LinkedIn’s Penry Price: We’re Not Competing With Facebook
LinkedIn brought on Penry Price — a long-time Google sales executive who most recently was president of the ad-tech startup Dstillery — as VP-global sales for its ad business at a key moment six months ago.
The company was in the midst of a transformation into a vehicle for content marketing, powered by “sponsored updates,” or native ads that be slipped into user streams alongside updates from connections and posts by high-profile writers like Bill Gates and Richard Branson. (It recently announced it will open up the “influencer” program to the masses, letting anyone post long-form content on LinkedIn.)
Launched last July, sponsored updates are an area of strategic focus for the company, but it hasn’t disclosed how much revenue they’re bringing in.
