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In a major executive move, Joanne Bradford will move from being Microsoft's chief media revenue officer to chief media officer at MSN, underlining MSN's pivotal role in driving future revenue.

At her new post, Bradford will oversee the MSN's marketing, business development and branded entertainment initiatives, reports AdAge. The move is apparently in response to lagging ad sales and badly trailing Google in search.

Sales at the online services group, which includes MSN, fell 4 percent and it recorded a $136 million loss in the quarter, due to low subscription revenues, AdWeek points out.

"We're extremely bullish about our future. The changes mean three key things: we're betting on MSN, we're investing in advertisers, and we're investing in Windows Live services to gain customers," Microsoft spokesperson JenniferTreadwell is quoted as saying by ClickZ.