Googles Marissa Mayer joins Yahoo!

Yahoo! – that would be if it could be internet behemoth – has named former Google vice-president Marissa Mayer as its chief executive, the company’s third in less than 12 months.

37-year-old Ms Mayer will assume the role this week. Ms Mayer was one of Google’s earliest employees, she was the Internet search company’s first female engineer. Ms Mayer was responsible for local and geographical products including Google Offers, Google Maps, Google Earth, Street View and local search for desktop and mobile.

The new appointment signals Yahoo!’s renewed focus on product innovation in an effort to drive advertising revenue for one of the world’s largest consumer Internet brands the company said via statement. The move comes as a surprise after many reports said interim CEO Ross Levinsohn had a lock on the top job.

Yahoo! confirmed via regulatory filings that the cost of luring Ms Mayer away from Google was considerable. Ms Mayer will receive a package of almost $US60, including an annual base salary of just over $US1 million, an annual $US2 million bonus as well as stock bonuses of up to $US3 million, giving her an average annual salary of around $US5 million, assuming she sticks  :: Read the full article »»»»