Paris-based video upload site Dailymotion has hired ex Google (NSDQ: GOOG) UK director Kate Burns as its first UK MD. The site is looking to set aside UK video and display ad inventory and attract advertisers via an agency on these shores, as well as extend its MotionMaker scheme for semi-pro producers, says NMA (ie. it’s on the lookout for decent-quality videos).

Burns sees that as the French site’s differentiating factor from YouTube’s mass uploading - though it’s also fair to say everyone’s playing catch-up to YouTube on that front. Historically, Burns was Google’s first employee outside the US in 2001, but she took a career break in 2006 to spend more time with her family. She had also been Altavista’s European sales director.

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