In case you haven’t seen it, Vanessa Fox has decided to leave Google. I’m really sad to see her go, but the work she’s done has really helped webmasters and Google. In the years that Vanessa has been at Google, she’s helped to launch and improve the webmaster console, communicate policy and get feedback with the outside world, and bring search engines together on the Sitemaps standard. She’s done a bunch of things to make Google a better company and search engine.
As a result of Vanessa’s influence, Google does a lot more webmaster communication than we did even a couple years ago, from conferences to blogs to user forums. I’ll miss her dearly, but the communication she began will be continued at Google. When I visited the Kirkland office a couple weeks ago, I was struck by just how many high-quality people the webmaster central team had. And as Vanessa mentioned yesterday, the team of people who communicate webmasters continues to grow.
Vanessa, thanks for all the wonderful things you’ve done at Google, and I wish you the best at Zillow or anywhere else you go in the future. Let me know if you ever need a glowing recommendation. Or I guess you can also just ping some of the tons of webmasters you’ve helped over the years. 
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
It is sad to see Vanessa leave the Webmasters team. I am one of the many who appreciates all the work that has been put in into the Tools over the years. However, I do have a question about the frequency of data (such as links and search terms) update. Wonder if you could do a post on Tools and how their updates work.
My perception (from a distance) is that Vanessa went to these conferences and really could relate to those she spoke with on a personal level. She was attracted to their fresh enthusiasm. You combine that with her new belief that:
and it makes perfect sense to me.
I would say “good luck” to Vanessa but she doesn’t require luck in her bright future…
Good luck Vanessa!
Hey, she is a “Xoogler” now!
Hi Vanessa
Thanks a bunch for all your generous contribution to the webmaster communities.
My personal gift to you is a spot on Matt’s blog which I attempted to optimize for you. You can see it here #9 as a feed with no nude pictures at all
vanessa fox nude
Good luck, Vanessa.
well good luck vannessa shes one of thegood guys (well if you see what i mean)
Does this mean that Google’s going to submit pinup centerfolds of Matt or Lasnik to Hugh Hefner? Because well…that would just be wrong. Very, very wrong.
Good luck, Vanessa.
It’s a sad day for us webmasters that have had the opportunity to work with her and the millions of others that reap the benefits of her influence at Google, but hopefully a happy one for Vanessa.
Indeed a bittersweet day. Nice of you to wish her well, Matt. I’m sure Zillow’s PageRank just shot up to 11 with the links from all the SEO blogs talking about Vanessa going there. That should help the startup for sure.
Holy crap! Is Zillow publicly traded? I may hafta buy some stock!
Good luck
One question. Does zillow build on Google Base?
Good luck to Vanessa and her ventures with Zillow and I look forward to seeing the work that comes out of them. Their current API’s for home values and zestimate are awesome and I cant wait to see whats next.
Good luck Vanessa, I enjoyed meeting you at SMX even if it was only for a brief elevator ride.
Congrats and good luck in your new position Vanessa – we’ll miss you.
M
Thanks Matt (and everyone). I loved working with you and the team and all the webmasters out there and am happy there’s such a great team in place to continue what you started so many years ago.
Hmmmm, I see you really do appreciate Vanessa and wish her the best. Nice of you to drop the rel external nofollow (-; Handing out a little link love are we now?
Matt, you may remember me from SMX, H.L. DeVore here…or possibly you’d remember me as the questioner re: Buy Viagra? When are you going to fix this stuff? Like I said in Seattle…not sure why I keep searching for it, because I don’t need it! I suppose it is an easy and interesting place to find the activities of the lowest of the low…
If Google can’t fix this, what can you fix? Why not hire a small army and start manually adjusting. Aren’t you worried you’re going to get sued soon if you don’t!?
Seem to me Washington.edu should have a problem with you ranking them #5 for a link that redirects to a Canadian drug seller…
Vanessa…I’ll happily buy you even more drinks now that I can get closer and not trampled by all of the little “Cuttlets” (-: P.S. – My house is worth more than you say on your Zillow Zestimate! (I hope!)
Good luck to Vanessa. But this raises a question that I can’t stop thinking about, so I’ll just ask and then duck. How does Google handle employees having ‘insider information’ and what are the rules for using that info?
Fairwell Vanessa and good luck!
Wow, we talked about how competitive real estate SEO is at SMX. Who would have thought a real estate site would buy a Googler, yikes!
Guess you need to update the webmaster guidelines again. Paid off Googler’s probably fit right into the paid links section
Good luck Vanessa, real estate is a fun market!
Thanks for the work on sitemaps – as you can see it is very much appreciated.
Good luck to Vanessa.. we are wishing you the best on your life..
Sad for us – but hopefully her contribution will be built on by others.
I also hope she has a parachute clause in her contract – if Zillow gets taken over by Shh-you-know-who! she gets a brazillion dollars and a contractual opt-out
Good luck Vanessa in your future journeys!
Time for wishfull thinking
Google to acquire Seattle WA online real estate service Zillow.com.
Financial terms of the deal, believed to be an all-cash transaction, were not released.
I was always impressed by Vanessa Fox’s enthusiasm in making things better. There’s so much out here that’s all about “what can you do for me” but it seemed to me Vanessa just went out there to make a difference, and she did.
Zillow.com doesn’t work for me
Dear Matt and Vanessa,
Yes, good communication is hard to come by especially in a big company like Google. Appreciate your contribution over the years.
Webmasters of small sites love good communication with Google, as it is very concerning to read of Google slaps etc.
We think! Ohmigod! What shall I do?
Being webmaster is hard work, sometimes, little reward.
Please continue your good work.
We have contest now, SEO course, to get #1 on Google by 22 June.
http://ambatchmasterpublisher.blogspot.com
Good luck for your new job Vanessa. I didn’t even know Zillow.com until today
Matt
I’m sure Vanessa, just like me, wish to know:
Has Google conducted on 14th June 2007 an updating of an algorithm (or its data), or changing its scoring algorithms
Thanks!
“Who would have thought a real estate site would buy a Googler, yikes!”
She won’t be for that long – Google will acquire Zillow. Maybe this is Vanessa’s way of getting a better stock option deal.
Best wishes to Vanessa.
Looks like someone bought the domain MattCuttsNude.com. I just looked its not available. Maybe Matt has plans for it soon.
Good luck to Vanessa. I remember her at her *first* internet conference (Boston WMW). Hope she keeps going to WMW.
RE: Google aquiring Zillow? Why? They have both the site and the guy who effectively invented that type of mashup: Paul R and HousingMaps.com. I’d guess we’ll see a Google RE site within a year that’ll be even better than Zillow, which it a good – but often problematic – investor and home buyer tool.
Google’s going to submit pinup centerfolds of Matt or Lasnik to Hugh Hefner?
Good luck Vanessa Fox. From a webmaster “of yours”
I hope that Google can replace Vanessa quickly as the Google tools are key to my development (espeically the new backlinks tool). Thanks for the great work Vanessa.
Goodie Lucky Vanessa. The real estate market is huge and I hope you can attract as many webmasters as you can.
Matt, would you consider at any given time to leave Google? My guessing is that you will stay there, correct me if I am wrong.
Have a nice summer time.
just wanna say i learn a lot from Vannessa. a geek girl, my iDOL!!!
Good Luck Vanessa – all the best!
Nice work Vanessa. All best from all !
Matt,
Perhaps Vanessa will come back now that Google is acquiring Zillow:
http://www.rentvine.com/blog/index.php/google-acquires-zillow-video/
Dave