Newly-Promoted Marketer Leaves Microsoft

Martin Taylor, who was promoted to corporate vice president of Windows Live and MSN marketing in March, has unexpectedly left the software giant. He’d been with the company for 13 years and was said to be an advisor to CEO Steve Ballmer.

AP and Bloomberg reports quote a Microsoft e-mail as saying “We’ve made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin Taylor but we don’t comment on personnel matters.” A biography on Microsoft’s corporate site simply says Taylor “is no longer with Microsoft.” As recently as Monday, Taylor was quoted in a press release.

What does this mean for Microsoft as it works to build new ad-supported products and market them to build an online audience? The wording of the Microsoft statement seems to imply the company, and not Taylor, made “the difficult decision to part ways.”

UPDATE: Microsoft says former Ask.com CEO Steve Berkowitz, who joined the company in April, “has already stepped in to assume Martin’s MSN and Windows Live marketing responsibilities for the short-term, and we hope to be able to announce a permanent successor in the near future.”