Yes, people do actually leave Google

Don't know who in the ad industry attended the Web 2.0 Summit last week, but probably would've made many in advertising happy to know that occasionally people actually leave Google rather than flocking to it like moths to a flame. In fact, the conference, which was held in San Francisco, actually devoted a whole panel to why Googlers might become ex-Googlers. The panelists included former Google ad strategist Patrick Keane, who is now evp/cmo at CBS Interactive. Said Keane, ""The financial incentives are important ... but I think there are bigger things—not that Google isn't a big thing."BTW, I scanned the list of speakers at the event (go to this link and scroll down), and while it was really impressive—anyone ever hear of Rupert Murdoch, or Steve Ballmer, or John Doerr?—it was utterly lacking in people from the advertising industry. Only ones I found were Brian McAndrews and Curt Viebranz, who run online advertising businesses from the publisher side. To me, something's wrong with this picture.