Yahoo's latest weapon to beat Google

Less than a week after Terry Semel stepped down as chief executive of Yahoo, Wenda Harris-Millard, chief sales officer in the U.S., has left the company.

In a statement on Sunday, Yahoo Inc. said that its veteran domestic sales officer has resigned, forcing the company to merge the two main parts of its US advertising business under one sales executive, David Karnstedt.

Karnstedt, currently senior vice president of Yahoo's Search sales business, would lead the newly merged sales teams as head of North American sales.

"By taking a more holistic approach to advertising sales, Yahoo will become a more consultative seller, which should make buying complete solutions easier for our customers across Yahoo and our partner network," Karnstedt said in a statement. "These moves will also enable our world-class sales team to more effectively meet the needs of our advertisers — not just today but well into the future."

Karnstedt will continue to report to Gregory Coleman, executive vice president of global sales. "When combined, the two organizations will deliver profoundly better results than when delivered separately," Coleman said.

The latest management overhaul, which analysts think could leave a negative impact on Yahoo's display and Web search advertising business, follows the Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo's warning last week that a nearly year-long slump in its display ad business (the online banner ads and other methods) may affect its second-quarter results.

Yahoo’s plan to combine two advertising arms, display/branded advertising, manifests surging demand by customers for campaigns that combine both types of ads, with newer types of video advertisements, said recently promoted Yahoo President Susan Decker in a phone interview.

Yahoo hopes that the latest shake-up would help the Internet powerhouse fight to catch up with online search leader Google Inc.

Millard’s departure comes after Terry Semel has stepped down as chief executive of Yahoo and is being succeeded by Jerry Yang who was one of the co-founders of the company. Semel’s resignation was announced on Monday (June 18) by Yahoo officials. However, he will remain on board as a non-executive chairman.

Yang, a Taiwanese raised in San Jose, California, was handling the post of Chief Yahoo! and had been filling the shoes for Farzad Nazem, the chief technology officer, who left earlier this month.

The decision came after a long struggle by Yahoo! to regain its no.1 internet portal status with the entry of stalwarts like Google and even young rivals like MySpace and Facebook. Despite numerous efforts on behalf of Semel to rejuvenate the company, it has been disappointing on the Wall Street. Finally, discontented investors suggested a management overhaul at the Annual shareholder’s meeting last week.

In terms of social interaction, Semel tried to put yahoo ahead of its competition by purchasing photo-sharing site Flickr, but it could never catch up with social websites like MySpace and Facebook.

Meanwhile, New York’s Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) has named Millard as president of its media business, effective July 16. She is already a member of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's board for the last three years. She will oversee the company's publishing, Internet and broadcasting activities at MSLO.

Yahoo is engaged in pitched battle with Mountain View-based search leader Google and other companies over the lucrative keyword ads, which are generally text ads targeted to a user's search terms or the contents of a Web site.

Google Inc.’s ease to use, simplicity of design and massive database listings have made it the Numero Uno search engine in the world. The Web search leader is now extending its design magnificence in new directions by making the search services more comprehensive.

This year on May 16, the world’s top online search provider, combed its different Web search services into one "Universal Search" service that presents Web sites, news, video and other results on one easy-to-use page. It also announced the addition of a Universal Navigation Bar at the top of Google search and other pages, which will allow users to quickly get to other Google properties. For example, Gmail users can jump instantly to search, calendar, documents, and other services.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin have to be credited for co-finding this giant internet search and advertisement engine, Google, which has helped the masses to be in touch with every sphere of life as it is said, 'Everything is now just a click away and within the reach of everybody.'

Yahoo!, started by two Stanford graduates– Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994, is the largest and most comprehensive information portal on the Web. The company was incorporated in 1995. Yahoo! has its own service called Yahoo Buzz that shows most-searched-for subjects and the biggest movers.