Former Yahoo VP to Head Up Microsoft Internet Unit

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Former Yahoo VP to Head Up Microsoft Internet Unit

Marcia

6:11 am on Dec 5, 2008 (gmt 0)

Microsoft Names Ex-Yahoo Executive as Internet Unit Chief [nytimes.com]

In selecting Mr. Lu, who will become president of the money-losing online services group in January, Microsoft chose an executive with deep technical knowledge over others with more advertising and media experience. He will be leading the company’s challenge to Google, which dominates the search and online advertising businesses.
“Microsoft is trying to emulate Google in naming a technologist to head the online unit,” said Youssef Squali, an analyst with Jefferies & Company.

Ha! A NY Times blogger is calling the move Microsoft’s Google Envy (Part 396) [bits.blogs.nytimes.com]

The choice of Qi Lu to run Microsoft’s online services division offers the clearest picture yet about Steve Ballmer’s vision for the company’s online effort. Its colors are blue, red, yellow and green and it is spelled G-O-O-G-L-E.

[edited by: Marcia at 6:16 am (utc) on Dec. 5, 2008]

nealrodriguez

5:40 pm on Dec 5, 2008 (gmt 0)

if he couldn't get yahoo! to take market share from google, how do they figure he'll get ms to beat google?

it's like if you as the youngest brother @ age 8, gets your 11 year old brother to beat up your 19 year old brother. i think you're both in for a an diametric ass whoopin'.

GaryK

5:47 pm on Dec 5, 2008 (gmt 0)

I posted about this and Sean Sutcher in the Yahoo Corporate thread a week or two ago. It's nice to see the hiring of Mr. Lu has finally been made official. I wonder if Mr. Lu was thwarted in his efforts to improve Yahoo according to his vision and got a better offer from Microsoft? That would explain the seemingly hard to understand reason for hiring an executive from a faltering company.

GaryK

3:25 am on Dec 6, 2008 (gmt 0)

As a follow-up to this thread there was a quote from Microsoft's Ballmer late on Friday that a search deal with Yahoo would be better if done sooner than later, but noted it wasn't a factor in the hiring of former Yahoo search executive Qi Lu, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. This seems somewhat contrary to statements reiterated recently that Microsoft was no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo.

Steve Ballmer: A Deal for Yahoo Would be Better If Done Soon
[online.wsj.com...]

Bilbo

2:45 am on Dec 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

Well after you have already started the brain drain and put Carl Icahn on the board, ousted there CEO and there alternative avenues have imploded. You have to prepare shareholders a rescue of yahoo, and if I was Microsoft I would use the word "Rescue" makes sense.

Steve Balmer has played this very well. Genius play infact.

bill

11:41 am on Dec 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

I hardly think MS is responsible for any of Yahoo's current 'predicament'. They've been doing that to themselves very nicely for years now.

Mr. Lu is obviously qualified technically, but this unit wasn't doing all that well under his tenure at Yahoo. Hopefully things will go better at MS. Things really couldn't get worse for them in this arena, could they?

GaryK

3:18 pm on Dec 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

bill, something to think about...back in the day when I worked in the corporate world I was technically and creatively qualified to do my job, but was almost always held back by upper management. I could rarely get my ideas approved, or, if they did get approved, I could almost never get the budget I needed to make my projects successful. I eventually left and started working for myself.

I have occasionally wondered over the past few days if Mr. Lu and others were in a similar predicament and hence jumped at the chance to work for Microsoft where they were, presumably, offered whatever they needed to make their products successful.