In case you missed it, the PR world agrees to disagree with ZDNet’s click bait freakout headline “Did Google just kill PR agencies?”

OK, so what did the big guys’ changes to webmaster rules on links and keywords do? They forced PR pros to change their SEO press release strategies—and this is not a bad thing.

See, Google really doesn’t like what they call “link manipulation schemes” which provide “unnatural boost[s] to the popularity of a piece of content” via tactics like the dubious repetition of certain hyperlinked keywords/phrases which all go back to the same client’s address as well as the placement of press releases on numerous sites to improve search placement and “game [Google’s] algorithm.” According to ZDNet’s Tom Foremski, Google sees these PR practices as the equivalent of the “keyword stuffing” tricks that they hate so very much.

Their warning to publicists pushing clients’ content: If you continue doing this, your client company may well be penalized or even blacklisted.

Bad news, right? Not really…

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Porter Novelli announced that Karen Ovseyevitz, partner, regional director of Porter Novelli’s Latin American presence and co-managing director of Martec Porter Novelli in Mexico and Porter Novelli’s Florida office, has been appointed president, Latin America, effective June 1, 2013. Ovseyevitz will be charged with developing Porter Novelli’s Latin American presence; managing the growth of the agency’s partner offices in Central and South America; and establishing best practices and training curricula for all of Latin America. She will continue as co-managing director of Martec Porter Novelli, together with Sandra Kleinburg, and as managing director of Porter Novelli Florida. (Release)

Thomson Reuters Corp said on Wednesday it had hired Andrew Rashbass, currently group chief executive of The Economist Group, to be CEO of its Reuters news business. Rashbass has spent 15 years at The Economist in several roles, including managing director of Economist.com and publisher of the magazine. Pearson Plc’s The Financial Times Ltd holds a 50 percent stake in the parent holding group of The Economist. Rashbass will report to Thomson Reuters CEO James Smith and will be based in London in the newly created role at Reuters. Stephen Adler, president and editor-in-chief at Reuters, will report to Rashbass. (Release)

Time Inc.’s ad sales division — Time Inc. Branded Solutions — has named Tom Kirwan its vice president of digital sales. Kirwan was most recently the associate publisher of Time Inc.’s Style & Entertainment group. He has been with Time Inc. since 2008. (FishbowlNY)

International communications firm Fleishman-Hillard announced the hiring of Wendi Taylor Nations, who will serve as senior vice president, partner and leader of the health and wellness group in the firm’s Chicago office. Before joining Fleishman, Nations spent ten years at Porter Novelli, serving as healthcare practice director and managing director of that firm’s Chicago office. She also managed healthcare relations for Hill & Knowlton. Maxine Winer, general manager of Fleishman-Hillard’s Chicago office, describes Nations as “highly regarded in the health and wellness space”, and her responsibilities at Fleishman will involve increasing the firm’s influence among clients in that sector. (Release)

Univision Communications Inc. announced that Mónica Talán has been appointed executive vice president of corporate communications and PR, effective immediately. Talán, who was most recently the senior vice president of the same, will remain based in New York and report to Randy Falco, Univision’s president and CEO. She will continue to be responsible for overseeing all corporate and internal communications and programming public relations as well as the company’s media relations efforts. (Release)

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Top firm Porter Novelli announced the addition of industry vet Fred Shank to its roster in the role of senior vice president, consumer practice. Shank joins Porter Novelli after spending nearly four years in a VP position at Edelman PR, where he worked as a strategic leader on accounts for clients like Heineken, Starbucks and Kraft. In his new role Shank will report to Darlàn Monterisi, managing director of the firm’s New York office. (Release)

Richard Rubenstein, president of Rubenstein Public Relations (RPR), announced that Katie Matulonis has joined the firm as social media manager to advise RPR’s clients on new strategies for developing their digital presence, oversee the agency’s social media properties and develop new business opportunities. Matulonis brings several years of experience in social media community management and consumer and lifestyle communications to her new role after working with consumer, luxury and hospitality brands at Goldstein Communications. Her most notable achievement was growing one brand’s fanbase from zero to over 120,000 in six months on a minimal budget.  (Release)

Widmeyer Communications announced the addition of digital media expert Jerri Ann Henry as digital account lead on the higher education and public affairs teams. Henry has led grassroots, digital and advertising campaigns for companies, coalitions and candidates in the agricultural, energy and telecomm industries. She spent two years as digital director at JDA Frontline where she was responsible for all digital advertising, outreach and research. (Company Website)

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In case you missed it, last week brought a couple of stories that hinted at a new strategic direction for PR firms. As Hotwire PR‘s Leslie Campisi put it in her guest post, data is the future of PR–and more major organizations are creating custom analytics systems to better shape media strategies, measure the influence of related campaigns and demonstrate the real-world value of their work to clients.

Porter Novelli confirmed that sentiment last week by announcing the development of its own “proprietary analytics system” designed to capture “the entire conversation taking place about a brand or organization” in all forms of media (yes, that includes print). CEO Karen Van Bergen explains that this new tool will enable the firm to more quickly respond to shifting public sentiments and media mentions/perceptions of its clients and campaigns. As we mentioned above, it will also empower the firm to more accurately present the results of various efforts to clients in the form of hard numbers.

We all know that measurement is a big part of inter-industry debates about the future of PR, and these two firms’ custom systems address the same problems in different ways. How will other major firms respond?

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Porter Novelli announced that Jesse Soleil has joined the New York office as senior vice president, digital. In his role he will be responsible for designing cross-platform digital experiences for clients across all practices. For the past four years, Soleil was CEO of Massiverse LLC, a boutique media entertainment company, which he founded to create cross-platform entertainment for kids. With Massiverse, Soleil created new original and intellectual properties, including Dragons Vs Robots, as well as new technology, marketing and business models integrating social media, games, toys, traditional media (TV), Webisodes, publishing, mobile apps and a Near Field Communication platform. Before that, he spent nearly eight years with Scholastic, Inc., most recently as vice president, emerging media and technology. (release)

Lauren Miller joined Bully Pulpit Interactive as a senior director. Many may recognize Lauren from her work on the Elizabeth Warren for Senate campaign, where she was the new media director. Over the past five political cycles, Lauren has defined how campaigns can use the internet to raise money and win elections. Lauren will advise Bully Pulpit’s political clients, and she will help BPI establish itself not just as the largest digital marketer of the Democratic party and brand, but as a premier full service digital firm. Her hire complements BPI’s other additions over the past month, which include: Will Johnson, the new senior director for strategic services who joined the team from Change.org and Madeleine Perry, the former digital director for Sen. Sherrod Brown, a new deputy director. (Release)

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Porter Novelli announced that Michael Ramah has been appointed chief client officer. He will work closely with senior leadership on both agency- and client-side teams to drive innovation, best practices and growth. Ramah’s appointment comes on the heels of his having spent the latter half of 2012 serving as acting CEO of the agency. (Release)

Lori Conkling joined NBCUniversal as EVP of Strategy and Business Development for a newly-formed area of the company focused on the monetization of cross-platform content, driving innovation and architecting a digital strategy across mobile, social and the web. She reports directly to Lauren Zalaznick, EVP, NBCUniversal, who was recently promoted to lead the group. Conkling joins from A&E Networks (AEN), where she was EVP of distribution. (Release)

enVu appointed Jim Farrell as EVP of sales for its gestural interactive ad network. In his new role, Farrell will be responsible for building and overseeing the sales efforts for enVu’s five North American sales regions including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. Jim will focus on cultivating a successful sales and customer service team across the U.S. to ensure enVu’s high growth objectives are achieved. (Release)

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Tucker/Hall, Inc. named Stephanie Amberg vice president at the firm. Amberg was a senior communications advisor at Tucker/Hall in the mid-1990s focusing on public relations and marketing strategies in the areas of commercial real estate, tourism and hospitality and luxury brands. Amberg returned to Tucker/Hall in 2012 after serving as vice president of public relations at OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC (recently renamed Bloomin’ Brands). (Release)

Porter Novelli announced that Diana Valencia joined the company as senior vice president, multicultural communications. In leading this practice, Valencia will oversee client programming designed to reach all demographic segments under the multicultural umbrella. Valencia has worked in both corporate and agency roles over the course of her career. She spent nearly five years with Univision Interactive Media in New York, most recently as senior director, mobile sales development, leading strategic operations for the discipline. Before that she was director, mobile content & services for Univision – working out of Los Angeles and New York. (Release)

Oxygen Media has promoted Matthew Jarecki to vice president, advertising sales. In this new role, Jarecki will be responsible for generating and expanding national advertising sales revenue for the Northeast, with a focus on integrated marketing and multiplatform ad sales partnerships. He will work closely with the Account Executive team as well as clients and agencies to deliver multi-dimensional deals and provide brands with an exclusive level of exposure through cross-platform integrations. (Release)

Porter Novelli announced that Darlàn Monterisi has been named managing director of Porter Novelli New York, succeeding Karen van Bergen who was recently named CEO of the company. Monterisi joined the agency in 2011 as an executive vice president to lead the HP business. Prior to joining Porter Novelli, she was the global PR director for Rockstar Games, where she conceived, developed and executed integrated communications programs for such brands as “Grand Theft Auto IV” and “Midnight Club: Los Angeles.” (Release)

MercuryCSC president Jeff Welch announced that Mike Geraci has been hired as VP of converged media, a new position for the agency. In addition, Stacie Wunsch has been promoted to VP of Client Services and Maclaren Latta to VP of consumer insights. Geraci will oversee the agency’s creative department and implement integrated brand marketing that combines creative strategy with social media, content development, traditional PR, and other innovative channels. (Release)

Hager Sharp announced the hiring of nationally-recognized social media professional Mike Schaffer as director of digital strategy. He will work across all the firm’s account teams to provide expertise in digital strategy, social media and online programs. Hager Sharp specializes in “communications that make a difference” in health, safety and education — where fully integrated social marketing and public awareness campaigns are critical. (Release)

Global PR leader Porter Novelli will make big changes in the New Year: Parent company Diversified Agency Services (DAS) just announced that Karen Van Bergen will serve as CEO, effective January 1^st, 2013.

The position had been filled on an interim basis over the past six months by Michael Ramah, who will continue to serve as a member of Van Bergen’s New York-based executive committee.

Van Bergen moves into her new position as a veteran highly regarded by clients and peers within the industry. DAS president and CEO Dale Adams said: “Her innovative leadership style is one that prizes collaboration above all else, empowering teams to draw from the best possible resources – regardless of level or location – to deliver creative, business-building programs for clients.”

Just over a year ago, Van Bergen joined the agency as senior partner and managing director. Prior to accepting that role, Van Bergen spent three years working in an Amsterdam-based position as senior vice president/senior partner at Fleishmann-Hillard and global leader for OneVoice, an integrated offering serving Phillips Electronics under the Omnicom umbrella.

In other Porter Novelli news, Adam Snyder will join the firm as vice president of strategic planning. Snyder previously worked as digital and social strategy lead at Havas Worldwide.