After the departure of its previous CEO Scott Thompson in May (see Whither Yahoo?), embattled internet giant Yahoo surprised the markets with the appointment of long-time Google exec Marissa Mayer, as its new president and CEO. Mayer, who is also six months pregnant, joins Yahoo! immediately after resigning from Google. Apparently she will work through her maternity. Investors were pleased with the appointment, pushing Yahoo's shares up 2% in after hours trading.
There was no mention of interim CEO, Ross Levinsohn who has been overlooked for the full time CEO role. Levinsohn had the wonderful pedigree of ‘masterminding’ News Corp’s pretty disastrous acquisition of MySpace in 2005.
Mayer leaves the role of VP for local, maps, and location services at Google. She was Google's 20th employee when she joined in 1999, and has been heavily involved in the development of its flagship search product and homepage, as well as some 100 features and products such as image, book and product search, toolbar, iGoogle, Google News, and Gmail. So Mayer has real hands on experience delivering products, innovations, and user experience, which Yahoo sorely needs.
Doubters will question Yahoo's decision to hire a technology expert to run the business, over someone already experienced as a CEO. However Yahoo! needs to take bold action to turn things around. Mayer’s appointment, albeit high risk, could also re-introduce that early days buzz at Yahoo! that has been sorely missing.