in brief Google announced today the appointment of its new general manager for Google Australia and New Zealand, from the ranks of Fairfax Media.

New appointee Karim Temsamani "will focus on continuing to build our sales and operations team and developing Google's strategic relationships with industry partners" in Australia and New Zealand, regional managing director South Asia Richard Kimber said in a statement.

According to Kimber, Australia and New Zealand have always been important parts of Google's operations, with significant investments having been made in the region.

Temsamani's previous position within Fairfax Media was group director with Fairfax General magazines and commercial director for newspapers, where his responsibilities included expanding the profile and advertising revenue of magazines, and managing the agency and group sales of newspapers.