(Bloomberg) -- Reddit Inc. is hiring former Google advertising executive Mike Romoff as chief revenue officer, part of a push by the social media company to reach a wider range of ad clients.
Romoff, who is taking the job in October, will focus on building partnerships with ad agencies and brands, Reddit said on Wednesday. He replaces Harold Klaje, who led Reddit’s ad business for several years and served as its first-ever revenue chief.
Reddit has been investing heavily in its advertising technology over the past several years as it looks to compete with digital ad giants, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. The company went public in March and saw its advertising sales grow by more than 40% last quarter, bolstered by investments in artificial intelligence and an approach that relies on topics of interest rather than users’ personal data.
Earlier this year, the company launched Reddit Pro — a free product designed to help small businesses find customers on the site, which in turn could lead to ad sales. At Google, Romoff was vice president of US small-business sales. He also led ad sales at Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn.
The majority of Reddit’s $800 million in advertising revenue currently comes from Fortune 500 companies. Last year, more than 25% of the company’s sales came from just 10 advertisers.
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