Vanessa Fox, Webmaster Central's long time head of operations, announced her departure from the company today. There's more specific news about that on her personal blog, so I won't dwell on it here. What I do want to do in this blog post, and hopefully in the comments below, is to express our thanks to Vanessa. I don't believe that anyone, outside of a few of Vanessa's close friends, realize how much she's done to help Google's public image, their bottom line and their relations with webmasters, nor do most of us know how much Vanessa's done to fight for webmasters internally at Google. I'd like to explore some of those issues briefly.
Webmaster Central was not only Vanessa's department, it was her baby, her idea (right from inception), her show. If not for Vanessa, we might never have had the dedicated team of webmaster relations specialists (people like Jonathan, Amanda, Trevor, Susan & Maile). We might never have been able to send sitemaps to Google, see data about our sites (particularly the link data, for which Vanessa was always a fantastic advocate), verify ownership, select a preferred domain display or do any of the hundreds of other things that Webmaster Central enables.
It's not just Vanessa's work, though, that deserves our praise - it's her empathy, heart and constant attention. If you've ever talked to Vanessa, you know that she reads blogs, forums and posts voraciously - and unlike many who might have held her position, she never brushed any of it away. When she was criticized on her presentations, she'd get upset about it and work to make them better. When Webmaster Central took flak for an issue, she was right there trying to make things better. Vanessa pointed out blogs to me that I'd never read, criticizing small issues that I was never aware of, and taking those concerns right back to Google. I don't know that we'll ever again see that level of dedication or true empathy for the plight of webmasters.
Now's also a good time to thank Matt Cutts, whom Vanessa partially worked under during her stint at Google. Matt has done a tremendous amount to push the progress of webmaster relations and his support, too, has always been appreciated by our community. However, I would say that interacting with both of them, Matt, while more able to share specifics, certainly also has the tougher shell (possibly from the years of taking flack from crafty black hats). Vanessa, on the other hand, cared so much, so incredibly deeply about issues at Google, that you almost felt bad showing her problems or concerns. After getting to know Vanessa a bit more, I continually had the fear that she'd be up until all hours of the morning slaving over something that had affected the SERPs or reporting inside the tools.
Quite honestly, I'm very happy for Vanessa. I wasn't the only one who noticed the incredible load of work and stress that she was burdened with during her last few months at Google, and I believe that Zillow will give her something of a reprieve (if you don't, I'm coming for you, Barton). I'm also thrilled to hear that she plans to remain active in the search world - it would truly be a tragedy to lose her insight, experience and personality for good.
Vanessa Texts on 1 of Her 2 Phones
Gorgeous, Green-Eyed, Mystery Girl Steals Vanessa's Name Tag, 2007
Vanessa Fox Talks to the Crowd at the BlogHer Conference
Vanessa Gets Interviewed by Rand fro WebProNews
Vanessa Laughs Alongside Susan, Danny, Lisa & Matt
And now, I have a favor to ask of everyone who reads this post. Please, please, leave a comment either here (that's to assist you lazy RSS readers) or on her blog sharing your experiences either personally with Vanessa or with Webmaster Central. I think Vanessa deserves to know how much her work has meant to all of us, both personally and professionally (and often financially). Let's not her forget how much she did to change our perspectives and our interaction with one of the most important companies of the era.
Well said, Rand. Vanessa has been an enormous influence for better communication at Google. More important is that she genuinely cares, and anyone who has met her can tell that in just a few minutes. She'll be top-notch at anything she decides to tackle, and I hope we all still get to see her often.
Thank you Rand, for the very kind words. And thank you to everyone else. Of course, I'm super proud of the webmaster central team and certainly wouldn't have been able to accomplish what we have without them. I know they'll keep listening and building rocking new features.
I'm glad to hear that what I've done has been helpful and I'll still be around so I hope to see you all again!
PS - Mystery Guest: Those cookies kick ass. I am beyond honored to have them named after me.
You will be missed. I met you at SES several years ago, and followed your blog.
Good luck.
Take it easy. Don't think of it as leaving, just moving along a bit :)
Vanessa put the "cool" in cool SEO chicks. She really inspired me to strive for a prominent and respected role as a female in this industry. Congrats for everything!
I don't even know where to begin. Vanessa - I love you dearly, and I am so, so proud of you for taking this plunge. I think it's going to be amazing, and I can't wait to meet you for lunch - often.
To the rest of you - Vanessa is the only person I know cool enough to merit me naming a cookie after her. Now you have something to strive for.
Ahhh, now I get it, was listening to Rand's Rush Hour interview and clued in, mystery_guest starts with G and ends with E, I assume :D
The tools she spearheaded are used every day by so many of us. It has helped me in my personal work and many of our client's sites and businesses would not be doing well if not for her work. It would be impossible to follow the influence all the way down since the trickle effect of success is so great.
I wish her all the best and she should feel comforted by the fact that she has made a direct difference in so many people's lives. It's a gift that few people will have the privilege of experiencing. Good luck Venessa.
Matt, what the hell did you do to make her leave? ;)
Well that sucks. But all the best to her, and hopefully she'll enjoy whatever she goes on to do now :)
Don't leave!
What can we say but thank you and best of luck, not that you'll need it. You've laid a strong foundation, so it would be nearly impossible for WMC to fail now, even more so because of the strong example you set.
Vanessa, you've helped raise the bar on what site owners and SEO's expect from the search engines and I'd feel sorry for those who have to follow in your footsteps and shadow, except in doing so they will be the better for it.
Would it be too much to say that WMC helped bridge the gap of understanding amongst all levels of site owners in regards to search engines, their websites and even a basic understanding of SEO?
Will we look back 5 years from now and see WMC as one of the most influential and important elements of website management and SEO?
Could WMC actually be the next best thing since sliced bread?
Only time will tell.
Feels like an episode cliff-hanger and we are left anxiously waiting for next season's opener!
While you may no longer be at Google, I can still hope to have the pleasure of meeting you some day.
cheers
Google Webmaster Central has been very helpful to someone like me who's only a beginner in SEO. It helped me a lot to find out how my websites are doing, the backlinks and of course, the Sitemap submission makes the job easier. Thank you Vanessa for spearheading such a wonderful webmaster tool!
Great day for Zillow!
Congratulations on your new role Vanessa.
Thanks for Webmaster Central and especaily the link tool. It is very helpful.
Thanks for all your hard work!
Congrats to Zillow on snagging one of the most respected names in the Industry!
Good luck Vanessa! Thanks for everything you have done so far.
Vanessa, may you meet with the same great people and the same level of success wherever you go!
good job
There were many grat things about SMX, but one of my favorites was right after Vanesa'a "Buffy" dulicate content presentation, when I went up to the table where she was sitting and I sat there and I listened to people asking their questions of her and hearing what she would say in response. She answered questions for what seemed like forever. I had an enormous respect for the way she answered questioned. I know damn well that many of the questions she recieved were questions she had heard dozens if not hundreds of times. She really gave no indication of his. She did not sigh, she did not roll her eyes, she answered questions and made recommendations of where to get more info, she rocked.
She has been great, I am sad to see her go.
Buffy will never again be on a slide at a search engine conference. Snif.
She worked her ass off and we benefited, I hope she simply giggles with delight at how wonderful everything is in her new ventures and that all goes well.
There are alot of great people out there, but Google is losing one the best.
Best to you Vanessa. Thanks for everything Rand listed and more. You've been a true friend to the webmaster community. Hope you love livin' in the Pacific Northwest.
Vanessa, we've not met, but from my personal experience with Google Webmaster Central and from what Rand wrote, you have certainly become part of the SEO and webmaster households. You've really crept into our hearts (sniff!). Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication. It did not go unnoticed.
Just so you know.... You were on my list of important people to meet and take a picture with at SES London in Feb 2008 which I am planning to attend. I wish you all the best for your future at Zillow!
As I said over on Vanessa's blog, good luck for the future! I hope this will mean more writing on her blog, Vanessa Fox Nude - quite apart from everything she has achieved at Google, she'd be interesting to read anyway - a great writing style. If you haven't been there, go and check it out now. How many nude blogs can you read at work?
Google is, without a doubt, losing a very important special person.
Vanessa brought a very human touch to a company that often feels like the giant robot depicted in Rand's posts.
We're just plain grateful for all of the little things that continue to add up. So on behalf of all those to lazy to post... Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
I liked the post.
Thanks
Well said, Rand. For webmasters, one of the very passionate and friendly faces of Google will be gone. Time to open the champagne and throw a fare-well party :-)
One of the things I like most about the WMC team and specifically Vanessa is how they have opened the doors between Google and Webmasters and actually LISTEN to feedback from webmasters.
I guess the thing that impresses me most about this whole endeavor is that fact that Google not only listens to our feedback, they actually use it, implement it and it doesn't always take long to see in place.
I got to see some if this first hand during many of the industry events since WMC was first born up until now and even at SMX.
It seems like this all happened so quickly, but it must have taken a long time to plan and implement, I for one am grateful and think it was an excellent move by Google to gain feedback from the webmaster community and put people like Vanessa in charge of making it all happen.
Seconded...
Thanks for the your dedication and level of contribution.
I never had the privilege to meet Vanessa, but I am a regular user of Webmaster Central - aka her "baby". I have watched it develop over time into tool that allowed me to better manage my sites better by seeing where trouble spots were. As we know, Google's motto is "Do No Evil". With Vanessa's help, insight, and ability, it made the motto closer to "Do Good". I am happy for Vanessa and wish her well. Thank you Vanessa.
I had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa at PubCon in Vegas and after a grueling Q/A session and presentation she was patient enough to listen to my concerns and answer my questions.
Zillow should be proud to have her on board!
thanks for everything, Vanessa!!
Vanessa was one of the few people I wanted, but didn't get, to talk to at SMX - but that was nothing to do with her, simply down to my not getting up the guts to go & say hi. However if people like Rand & Matt think this highly of her, then she must be pretty damn ok.
And I love WebMaster Tools. A lot. So thank you very much for that Vanessa and good luck in the future.
Oh, and she has the same name as my wife so she must be cool.
Well said, Rand. Vanessa, Webmaster tools is AWESOME and I definitely appreciate your pushing on behalf of both big and little guys at Google!!
Great stuff Vanessa, we're losing one of the big guns behind the future PR of Google. Hoping you cause similar influence and striving in your near future.
You rule! +1 cookie named after you. :D
I finally - big deal for me :D - met Vanessa at SMX where she kindly provide me with a very candid answer about a client issue that I could get no-one else to clarify. Zillow has just received a MASSIVE PR burst - in more ways than one. All the very very best Vanessa. Google is losing a big part of their public persona.
What would we do without WM Tools??
I was really hoping to see a rematch with Kelly Thomas....I had Vanessa as a heavy favorite going into that final match!!
Can you make the value of my home increase in CA?
Don't under- Zestimate the power of Vanessa!!
Best of luck!
I never met Vanessa personally, but was a big fan of the tools that she and the rest of the Webmaster Central team produced. I did meet some of the rest of the team at SMX and I could tell they all enjoyed working with Vanessa. Her presentations (Buffy!) were always refreshing, and when listening to her one could tell that she really connected with webmasters unlike anyone before her.
Good luck to you in your next venture Vanessa and may you be the same disruptive force there as you were for the G!
Sure, she signs my fiancee up to work under her and then takes off. Just kidding :) Susan is so psych'd about the opportunity Vanessa extended her in starting with Webmaster Central.
It was great meeting Vanessa and I hope to see her again! I want to second what Matt says above about being able to tell how much she cares about people (especially webmasters) after just a few minutes with her.