Less than 24 hours after Google (NSDQ: GOOG) announced the departure of UK, Benelux and Ireland MD Dennis Woodside to become the company’s VP for The Americas, UK ad sales director Matt Brittin has been appointed as his replacement of sorts. Brittin joined two years ago from Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) and has been in charge of Google’s UK advertising accounts but will now be responsible for all UK operations including agency sales. But it’s a slimmed down role compared to Woodside’s - Benelux and Ireland markets will now be managed by their own country directors. Mark Howe remains in charge of UK agency sales.

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Brittin, a former Olympic rower, recently responded to critics in the publishing biz who blame Google for their loss of advertising revenue: “It is easy for people in traditional media to look at the internet and say, ‘Oh God, the internet is taking away our readers and advertisers’. But – and I want to be really clear about this – it is not Google that is taking advertisers away. It is consumers changing their behaviour.”