Following the departure announcements of two group heads in recent weeks, Microsoft has created a single group to handle both search and ad platforms, reports The Seattle Times.
The new division is called the Search and Ad Platform Group and will be headed by Satya Nadella, a 15-year Microsoft veteran. He will be tasked with finding the best fit for both search and advertising opportunities within Microsoft properties.

The software giant comes in a distant third behind Google and Yahoo, respectively, in both search and ad revenue.

One analyst expressed surprise that combining the two units took this long for Microsoft, considering that ad revenue and search are inextricably linked, so to speak.