It is a sure thing that Google is a tough company. However, for Sheryl Sandberg, a veteran Google employee, it seems that Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook has become at least as tough as the Internet company. The popular social networking web site announced on Tuesday that starting March 24 Sheryl Sandberg would become Facebook’s chief operating officer, replacing Owen Van Natta.

Sheryl Sandberg was Google’s vice president of global sales and operations for six years and she was involved in the company’s AdWords and AdSense services' development, as well as in the Google.org nonprofit division.

However, Sandberg will now start a new adventure aboard Facebook, as its chief operating officer. According to the social networking company’s statement, she will "be responsible for helping Facebook scale its operations and expand its presence globally," as well as "manage sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy, privacy, and communications."

Sheryl Sandberg is an alumna of both Harvard University’s undergraduate college and Harvard Business School. However, it is the experience she accumulated in building the Internet’s most successful digital-advertising giant that will represent a valuable asset for Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg’s move comes in the context when Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, announced that his company’s contract with MySpace had produced disappointing revenue results.