Erick Schonfeld has posted that one Ethan Beard, a Google executive, will soon depart to become Director of Business Development for the company. One after the next we are watching a number of Google executives depart from the company to join Facebook, the hottest “startup” in Silicon Valley.

Ethan joins a team of other Googlers including COO Sheryl Sandberg, who started at Facebook yesterday, Benjamin Ling, Gideon Yu and Justin Rosenstein. I would say “Oh how the mighty have fallen” but the reality is that while Google’s stock may be at a 52-week low, the company is still near the top of the food chain. Just yesterday there was also a lot of buzz surrounding Google applicants blowing their interview.

Regardless, Facebook appears to be increasingly recruiting from Google which is a smart move and also attractive to many Googlers that are looking to grab a piece of the Facebook stock options. I have to wonder how long-term this investment is by the new employees. Google was able to monetize early in their history and became exceptionally profitable. Facebook on the other hand likes to run at break-even and has not focused on heavily monetizing the site.

This new hire may be a signal that Facebook is beginning to take revenue generation more seriously. It will be interesting to see what new executives join the team in the coming months!