Defection, better offer, or
sign of things to come?

Facebook has hired Sheryl Sandberg, the VP of global online sales and operations at Google since 2001, to help bring the social network to the next level.

Sandberg helped develop AdWords and AdSense. She joins Facebook this month as COO and will work closely with co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg, reports The International Herald Tribune.

Among other things, Sandberg shall help Facebook expand overseas and develop an ad network that justifies last year's $15 billion valuation.

Facebook is growing in both size and popularity, but it still spends more than it brings in. And if Zuckerberg's frank take on its financial outlook is any indication, the site desperately needs help building a profitable business model, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Having earned $150 million in revenue last year, Facebook hopes to double revenue to $300 milllion this year, its fourth full year in business.

Sandberg says Facebook today reminds her of Google in '01.

Facebook's new COO joined Google when it had 260 employees. In her tenure, she witnessed her department — which handles 99 percent of Google advertisers — grow from four to thousands.

Google had revenue of $440 million in its fourth year, a fivefold jump from the previous year. Sandberg was quoted as saying the company's plummeting share price had nothing to do with her departure.