Google expands in Latin America

Google on Thursday announced it's opening new centers in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Mexico City. The new offices will work with advertisers and partners in those areas and other Latin American markets, the company said. The search giant recently acquired Brazilian Akwan Information Technologies, which will now act as its research and development center. The Mexico operation is headed by Gonzalo Alonso, formerly director of sales at T1MSN, while Alexandre Hohagen, a former HBO executive, will lead the team in Brazil.

"The online environment in Latin America is changing rapidly with the infrastructure for high-speed Internet access expanding, and with it e-commerce," Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, vice president of Asia Pacific and Latin America operations at Google, said in a statement.