Telegraph hires new online ad head

LONDON - Telegraph Media Group has appointed Thomson Directories' new-media commercial manager, Jeff Turner, as its head of online sales.

Turner will report to TMG digital media director Alison Reay and will be responsible for driving commercial revenue across Telegraph.co.uk, which overtook Guardian.co.uk as the country's most popular national website, according to ABCe figures for April.

Turner replaces Gary Cole, who left to take up the role as head of revenue for ITV.com and Friends Reunited in October last year. Turner joined Thomson Directories in 1998 and has held a number of positions including online sales manager and senior sales manager.

Turner is being joined by James Brown, who is taking on the newly created role of head of commercial strategy. Brown, who has joined from Diffiniti, reporting to digital director Brian Harrison, will oversee the group's efforts to price digital inventory at the appropriate level.

The group has also appointed three new sales executives: Laura White, John Cardwell and Ben Brown. White joins from the Guardian Media Group, Caldwell from the Financial Times and Brown from media company Moli.