Yahoo Reorganizes, Again

Yahoo is reorganizing again. Fewer than 50 days since Jerry Yang took over for Terry Semel as CEO and Susan Decker took on the role of president, Yahoo will reshape its corporate structure for at least the third time since December.

The one-time CFO Decker comes out with the most new power after the reshuffle. Decker broke the news in a company-wide e-mail obtained by Internetnews.com.

Decker wrote that the goals of the reorganization are to “better serve our customers, accelerate the speed of making fast, smart decisions, and create cleaner lines of accountability across key leaders.”

Yahoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the memo, Yahoo will now place responsibility for all its partners, such as advertisers, agencies, resellers, publishers, ad networks and developers, in a new division called Global Partner Solutions (GPS) to be led by Hilary Schneider who will report directly to Decker.

Schneider’s most recent projects were building the Yahoo Publishing network and leading Yahoo’s acclaimed newspaper consortium deal.

GPS will be tasked with “creating, delivering and coordinating global best practices for solutions to all of our partners,” Decker wrote. It’s responsible for all ad formats, including search, display, video, mobile and listings; all online marketing objectives, including brand, performance and promotional; as well as all customers in the U.S. market. Global Sales, the Online Channel, the Yahoo Publisher Network, Corporate Partnerships and Hot Jobs will operate as a part of GPS.

Decker wrote that business development deals for Yahoo Mobile and content will continue to be led by Connected Life and the Yahoo Network Division, respectively, but that each will work in coordination with GPS.

Properties in the Local Markets and Commerce Division, excluding HotJobs, which was a crucial element in Schneider’s newspaper deal, will re-form as a Yahoo Network Division and be led by Jeff Weiner who will also report directly to Decker. Jen Dulski will continue to lead Shopping, Travel, Auto, Real Estate and Local under Weiner, and Anna Zornosa will continue to lead Personals.

As a result of the reorganization, Yahoo ad sales chief Greg Coleman is out. After integrating Yahoo’s search and display ad sales teams in recent months, Coleman will assist Yahoo through this reorganization and then depart in February.

Schneider will replace Coleman and assume reports from North American Sales, Sales Strategy, Worldwide Sales Operations, Cross Border Sales, Online Channel Division, Yahoo Publisher Network, Corporate Partnerships and Hot Jobs.

Others now reporting directly to Decker include executives overseeing foreign markets, chief marketing officer Cammie Dunaway and Jeff McCombs, Decker’s chief of staff and vice president of business management.

“I know there have been many changes at Yahoo over the last few months, and I know that change is not always easy,” Decker wrote in the memo. But the company might be used to it by now.
It’s the third such reorganization since December. But it’s hardly a surprise to see Decker taking control.

When former CEO Terry Semel announced his departure in June, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang may have taken his title, but Decker took the reins, even from the first call to announce the change.

Decker also articulated a new plan for Yahoo, a vision of the new Yahoo as “the industry’s most open, accessible, and vibrant advertising marketplace,” during the conference call to announce Semel’s departure.

That reshuffling came weeks after Yahoo Senior Vice President Brad Garlinghouse released the so-called “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” a memo criticizing Yahoo’s corporate structure that called for “a radical reorganization.”

The document followed months of bad news for Yahoo during a year in which some analysts said Yahoo was losing advertising ground to rivals Google , Microsoft and AOL .

Yahoo’s hopes that the company’s new advertising platform would exceed early expectations has fallen flat so far.
Ultimately, Semel paid the price in June.