Yahoo shakes up executive tier

Sunnyvale (CA) - Three top executives will be leaving Yahoo as part of what the search company is calling a "major reorganization" in its top-level ranks. The chief operating officer, a senior vice president, and the head of Yahoo’s entertainment division are all headed out the doors of Yahoo’s corporate office.

The company is also reorganizing its advertising division, handing over the head position there to the current CFO, Susan Decker, who will still retain her position as chief financial officer. Other layoffs are expected but no further details have yet been announced.

COO Dan Rosenweig and the head of the site’s entertainment division, Lloyd Braun, will officially be replaced on January 1, 2007, along with most of the other new executive positions. John Marcom, senior VP of international operations at Yahoo, will be leaving soon afterwards, according to a company spokesperson. The entire reorganization is reported to be finalized by March.

Yahoo hopes that the new executive formation will help to speed up the pace of innovation, as the company desperately tries to hold on to the market share that it has been losing to Google over the past few years. Yahoo, which was once the defined leader in the search engine market, has faced several problems including loss of ad revenue and delays in new product introductions.

Comscore rankings now show Google at 45.4% market share, and an overall increasing trend over the past several quarters, while Yahoo is on a downward slope and currently stands at a 28.2% share.

Yahoo VP Brad Garlinghouse, whose position apparently is not in jeopardy, previously said the company’s main problem is a lack of vision. The site is "spreading its resources too thin, like peanut butter on a slice of bread," he said. He had recommended a top-level reorganization and drastic cuts in the workforce to get the company back on track.