New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz yesterday unveiled a centralised
management structure that she hopes will make the
advertisement-serving and search firm more responsive to customer
needs.
The reorganisation, the latest in a string that began when
co-founder Jerry Yang turned down a
$47.5bn merger offer from Microsoft, splits the world into two
divisions, the US and the rest. Bartz hopes this will be the last
for the next two to four years.
Analysts are still looking for the former Autodesk CEO to
indicate a direction for the company. Before she can do that,Bartz
has two key appointments to make, that of CFO and the head of the
Connected Life group, which aims to put Yahoo products on mobile
devices.
But it is Yahoo's search business that concerns most observers.
Yahoo Search runs a distant second to Google, which holds nearly
two-thirds of the market. An antitrust review scuppered a deal to
sell the division to Google. Bartz said she would still consider
offers for it, possibly putting Microsoft or AOL into the frame for
a deal.
The advertising division is suffering in the recession, but it
is well-positioned to take advantage of the marketers' switch from
paper to electronic media.
The company announced this week that it would introduce new
technology to deliver targeted advertising based on a user's online
behaviour. While this might appeal to advertisers because it
reduces adspend waste, it could face legal challenges from privacy
advocates.
The new structure also means that all its technology and product
groups will report to CTO Ari Balogh.
"We will be able to make speedier decisions, the notorious silos
are gone, and we have a renewed focus on the customer," Bartz told
staff.