Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is restructuring its Search Business Group to add a new group geared toward commercial search. It’s picked Multimap CEO Jeff Kelisky to be GM of this new Commercial Search unit, which covers Live Search cashback, MSN Shopping, local, consumer mapping, Virtual Earth and mobile. It’s part of the big plan to improve the performance of Live as a search and advertising platform. Kelisky will report to Search Business Group GM Brad Goldberg in Redmond but will remain based in London.

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Goldberg: “We are increasing our focus on commercial search, including changes to the search leadership team and engineering team and in order to lead this market we need to bring all find, explore and commerce needs together. (Jeff) will direct this team to ensure Microsoft continues to innovate and deliver so that consumers choose us to find local information and services.” Goldberg said Kelisky understood particularly how to navigate search, local services, business search and mobile.

Kelisky: “Microsoft has the resources to take what we’ve started and combine it with its other assets to be the market leader in searches that address the needs of not just ‘find’ but also the ‘research’, ‘exploration’, and ‘transaction’ phases of a user journey. This is a key strategic push from Microsoft to deliver customers new and innovative services to help when they are researching or buying a product or service.” Microsoft enjoys a paltry 1.8 percent search market share in Europe and is building a Search Technology Centre in the continent to drive search R&D.

This plan seems to centre on inclusion of mapping services, with Multimap taking more and more chairs at Microsoft’s top table. It’s the second time bosses from the company, which Microsoft bought for a reported £24.4 million in December, have been promoted within the company since May, when Multimap B2C GM Jim Cruickshank was upped to be Microsoft EMEA director of mapping, local and shopping. Cruickshank will once again report to Kelisky. And, prior to Multimap, Kelisky spent three years at management consulting firm AT Kearney specialising in corporate restructuring and post-merger integration.