Google Search Executive Tamar Yehoshua Joins RetailMeNot Board, Raising Eyebrows
Company doesn’t see a problem, trusts Yehoshua to act appropriately.
Deals aggregation site RetailMeNot (RMN) appointed Google search executive Tamar Yehoshua to its board of directors. Some writers have suggested this is a conflict of interest, given RMN’s dependence on Google SEO for traffic. However, in an email exchange, Google did not express concern about the appointment and said that Yehoshua would act appropriately.
The press release characterizes Yehoshua’s role as “a vice president at Google, Inc., where she leads the Mobile Search team. She also heads international strategy for all Google Search products.”
I asked Google how it handled potential conflicts and what its policy was. I was pointed to Google’s Code of Conduct, which says the following about board positions and conflicts of interest:
Outside Employment, Advisory Roles, Board Seats and Starting Your Own Business
Avoid accepting employment, advisory positions or board seats with Google competitors or business partners when your judgment could be, or could appear to be, influenced in a way that could harm Google. Additionally, because board seats come with fiduciary obligations that can make them particularly tricky from a conflict of interest perspective, you should notify your manager before accepting a board seat with any outside company. Google board members and employees who are VP and above should also notify Ethics & Compliance. Finally, do not start your own business if it will compete with Google.
RMN, which is public, was also backed by Google Ventures, and similar conflict or favoritism concerns have been raised in the past. That relationship, however, didn’t spare the company a Panda rankings hit in 2014. Accordingly, I wouldn’t expect Yehoshua’s presence to benefit RMN’s rankings going forward.
RMN is one of the leading coupon sites, and it generates the majority of its revenue from affiliate commissions from retailers — largely driven by search rankings. Consumers typically search on “retailer name, coupons” prior to buying or just before checkout, and RMN typically outranks the specific retailer itself, as the screenshot above indicates.
While the company is focused increasingly on its mobile app and mobile traffic, one could argue that RMN is mostly doing what amounts to search arbitrage and selling navigational traffic back to retailers, which are not as skilled with SEO.
(Some images used under license from Shutterstock.com.)
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