Remember, a couple months ago, Microsoft dropped Duane Forrester as part of their mass layoffs? He was let go from the Bing team and the search community erupted?
Well, he took two months off, weighing his options in terms of where to work next and believe it or not, he didn't go to Google. He went back to Bing.
I guess Bing saw the outcry and shock from the community and had second thoughts about letting go their main tie and connection to the search industry.
Duane announced he is going back to Bing, mostly in the same role, after very careful career consideration. He loves what he did at Bing and given the opportunity, he is going back to doing it.
It is amazing and wonderful to see Microsoft admit they made a mistake here and get him back. It shows a lot and I have huge respect for them. Mass layoffs in companies that big, things go missed - and this was a big miss that was very visible. I am sure many lost their jobs that should not have but because of Duane's impact and role in our community, him being let go, was clearly seen as a mistake.
Welcome back Duane and this is a huge gain for Bing!
Now maybe Matt Cutts will return to Google?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
