This week Time Warner's AOL snapped up Shashi Seth for its SVP-Global Ad Products position. Seth worked at Google in a number of senior roles, such as product lead for web search and head of monetization efforts at YouTube.

In June 2008, Seth left Google to become CRO of startup firm Cooliris.

At AOL, Seth will manage the development of ad technologies and report to Jeff Levick, President-Global Ad Strategy. Levick also came from Google, as did AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.

"As we move forward on our strategy of becoming the world’s largest provider of display advertising, Shashi will play a critical role in creating the best products in the business for our advertising partners," Levick stated.

Time Warner plans to spin AOL off into an independent unit by year's end. Armstrong has stated plans to prioritize online content and display advertising, moves that, if favorable, will put AOL in competition with more successful rivals such as Yahoo and Google itself.

Seth will operate out of AOL's Mountain View, CA campus, which is managed by recent hire Brad Garlinghouse, formerly of Yahoo. When Garlinghouse was hired, Armstrong expressed a desire to "replant the AOL flag in Silicon Valley," The New York Times reports.