More details on Facebook’s nascent dedicated UK operations - opening this week, the Soho Square, London, office “will start with a five-strong team and is aiming to employ more than 50 staff within a year”, says Media Week. We know one of the five will be ex-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) UK commercial director Blake Chandlee;  head of agency strategy Stephen Haines and group head Jon Harvey are tipped to join him after quitting the portal in Chandlee’s wake.

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He is expected to detail Facebook’s UK ad platform on Wednesday and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) commercial director Chris Ward tells Media Week the effort will involve Windows Live Search and banners and will be part-powered by technology acquired from the $6 billion acquisition of ad firm aQuantive. The continuation of Microsoft’s international Facebook ad deal would provide important continuity. Yahoo in September struck a wide-ranging deal to power Bebo’s ads, but the migration of three Yahoo staff to Facebook clearly hasn’t been enough to encourage the social net to look elsewhere.