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As senior vice president of the Online Services Group, Steve Berkowitz is responsible for the marketing, sales and business development related to Microsoft's online services, including MSN.com and Windows Live.
Prior to this role at Microsoft, Berkowitz was the CEO of Ask.com. As CEO, Berkowitz was responsible for all business related to IAC Search & Media. In his previous role as president of Ask.com (a Web property of IAC Search & Media), Berkowitz is credited with building the management team that orchestrated the turn around of Ask.com, today the second-largest pure search site on the Internet. In September 2001, he made the critical decision to acquire Teoma Technologies and integrate their unique approach to Web-wide search into the Ask Jeeves flagship properties. He also oversaw Ask.com's redesign, which improved ease-of-use and removed pop-ups and banner ads from the site in favor of a more contextually relevant search experience. As a result, user satisfaction has grown steadily since 2002, and the company more than tripled its revenue between the time when Berkowitz came on board and when the company was acquired in March 2005 by IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Prior to joining IAC Search & Media, Berkowitz was the president and COO of IDG Books, where he successfully expanded the "Dummies" series of books into a celebrated consumer brand covering everything from C++ to pet care. He also oversaw the acquisitions of CliffsNotes, Frommer's Travel Guides, Betty Crocker Cookbooks and JK Lasser's Tax Guides, which not only diversified IDG's holdings but also established the company as a global consumer book brand.
Berkowitz grew up in New York and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from State University of New York at Albany. He lives with his wife Carol and two children in Alamo, California. | 