Brad Garlinghouse’s appointment to a new job at AOL today as its new communications czar is yet another sign of an interesting trend for those keeping score of the comings and goings of top Internet execs.

Garlinghouse came to the Time Warner (TWX) online unit after a year-long break, preceded by six years at Yahoo (YHOO).

As anyone who watches the digital space knows by now, this kind of management musical chairs is common and never-ending.

In fact, borrowing a quote by IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI) CEO and chairman Barry Diller from an onstage interview I did with him at the sixth D: All Things Digital conference and switching out Hollywood for Silicon Valley: “[It] is a community that’s so inbred, it’s a wonder the children have any teeth.”

But, given all the movement of late, this insider seat-switching seems more frantic than ever, as allegiances shift, competitors become friends and colleagues become rivals faster than you can tweet.

When he left Yahoo last summer, in fact, the digital chatter was that Garlinghouse would take a job either as a venture capitalist (he had been one once) or helming a start-up (that too, at Dialpad.com).

In fact, sources said, Garlinghouse had been considering two mobile gigs, but opted for helping to try to overhaul a troubled Web giant.

Fixing messes was the impetus of Owen Van Natta, who left a top job at social networking giant Facebook in early 2008 and by the end of the year, headed over to run Project Playlist, a controversial online music-sharing service.

But then he had hightailed it by spring to try his hand at reviving MySpace, as its CEO.

His boss, News Corp. (NWS) digital head Jon Miller, did the same, getting the hook (unfairly to my mind) at AOL several years ago and then creating an investment firm with former MySpace head Ross Levinsohn.

The pair considered being part of a bid to oust Yahoo management in 2008.

Miller’s freedom lasted only until he got an offer that he presumably could not refuse from News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch recently. (Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.)

The list goes on, chock full of ex-Yahoos, in fact.

Its one-time COO, Dan Rosensweig, left the company in 2006, for example, and joined the well-known private-equity firm, Quadrangle Group.

But, soon enough, he was scooped up by Activision Blizzard (ATVI) to run its Guitar Hero division.

Yahoo Network head Jeff Weiner also departed from the Internet giant, in mid-2008, for a stint at two VC firms.

He landed at LinkedIn, the business-networking service where he was named CEO in late June.

Greg Coleman ran Yahoo ad sales until mid-2007 before taking a job at AOL earlier this year, which he lost after it got new management soon after.

At Yahoo, Coleman sparked with former advertising sales head Wenda Harris Millard, whom he ousted. She went onto Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) and left there this spring for the Media Link consultancy.

Presto! She is now helping MySpace’s Van Natta fix the social networking site’s ad business.

Current Yahoo U.S. advertising head Joanne Bradford actually came from Microsoft last summer, via her own short visit to the troubled ad start-up SpotRunner.

Former Yahoo search techie Qi Lu now runs digital for Microsoft (MSFT), along with a big gang of ex-Yahoo techies he has recruited.

And Scott Moore is even better at the switcheroo. He was at Microsoft running MSN U.S. content, switched to Yahoo as its media poobah, left last year to consider a start-up and then headed back to Microsoft as head of U.S. content this year.

But former Google (GOOG) execs have also been busy shuttling hither and yon, mostly to innovative start-ups.

Of course, many find refuge at Facebook (COO Sheryl Sandberg, PR major domo Elliot Schrage and many more) and Twitter (GC Alexander Macgillivray and COO Dick Costolo).

Recent departures–such as Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, who landed at Accel Partners for now–are also likely to find new homes soon enough.

And, of course, there’s always Garlinghouse’s new boss, former Google ad head Tim Armstrong, who took over at AOL earlier this year.

We’ll skip former Joost CEO and former Cisco (CSCO) exec Mike Volpi (who is now a VC); former Netscape Communications/short-term VC/ex-banker/current-for-now CBS (CBS) digital head Quincy Smith; and Joanna Shields, who has worked at Real Networks (RNWK), Google and Bebo (which was bought by AOL)–for now.

Because, around and around and around it always goes, as you can see in this funny video below, which I posted previously:

[Musical Chair designed by Jacob Mathew.]

In the ongoing game of musical chairs among top managers at Internet companies, former Yahoo exec Brad Garlinghouse–famous for his controversial “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which correctly chided the Internet giant for becoming so lugubrious several years ago–is taking a job at AOL very similar to the one he left at Yahoo last year.

Garlinghouse, 38, has been named president of Internet and mobile communications at AOL, putting him in charge of the New York-based Time Warner (TWX) online unit’s powerful email and instant-messaging properties, including ICQ and AIM.

He has only been in talks with AOL–which used Spencer Stuart’s Internet-top-exec-finder-in-chief Jim Citrin–for a few weeks, in a deal that came together quickly, he and the company said.

Garlinghouse, a longtime Web entrepreneur and exec, had reportedly been considering a number of start-up and venture-related jobs since he left Yahoo last summer after six years there.

Sources said he was seriously considering becoming the CEO of a mobile firm.

He was most recently at Silver Lake Partners, as an “in-house senior advisor,” the private equity firm that recently bought the Skype Internet telephony firm for $1.9 billion. Garlinghouse also reportedly helped work on that deal.

“It’s really exciting to be to able to rebuild and revitalize an industry giant,” said Garlinghouse in an interview with BoomTown earlier today. “I make no bones that these [properties] are in need of that…but there is also a huge opportunity to do something cool.”

Garlinghouse has to hurry. Despite being among the top communications players online–a group that also includes Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) and, more recently, Google (GOOG)–AOL has lost relevance with key audiences, even as social networking properties like Facebook and the microblogging service, Twitter, have innovated in the communications space.

The hiring of Garlinghouse, well known in Silicon Valley circles, is meant to counter that.

He will head up AOL’s operations from its Mountain View, Calif., campus–which is also the former HQ of AOL-acquired Netscape Communications–where, said AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, Garlinghouse will “be CEO of Silicon Valley for us.”

Between all its various properties, AOL has several hundred employees in the Northern California area.

Armstrong said AOL–which was founded 25 years ago on the East Coast and has tried and failed many times to get a true foothold in the West–thinks having an important player at the center of the tech industry is critical as it moves to spin off as an independent company by the end of the year.

“We have a triple play in getting a great executive, who is a master in the communications on the Web and who is well known out there,” said Armstrong. “Brad is our senior AOL manager there.”

Along with running all of AOL’s communications properties, Garlinghouse will inherit some of its community properties, although AOL’s Bebo social networking unit–now considered to be an overpriced acquisition error–now resides in its ventures unit, headed by Jon Brod.

Garlinghouse will also be aiding Brod, said Armstrong, with AOL on the lookout for acquisition opportunities in communications and other arenas.

While Garlinghouse declined to be specific about what would pique his buying interest, he was responsible for such big Yahoo deals as its $350 million purchase of Zimbra in the fall of 2007.

He was also key to bringing both Oddpost, which is at the heart of Yahoo’s email offering, and the popular Flickr photosharing service to Yahoo.

Garlinghouse said he has admired what Twitter and Facebook have done, but that they were not destroying traditional online communications, pioneered by AOL, as some assert.

“It’s a vibrant segment and this just means there are a lot of opportunities to enable integration,” he said. “I think of it as an expansion of online communications and I hope AOL can do more collaboration and partnerships.”

Garlinghouse also has to watch AOL’s basic products like email, which was recently passed by Google’s Gmail as the No. 3 email service in the U.S. Yahoo Mail is the top email, while Microsoft’s Hotmail is second.

How much Garlinghouse can do will depend on the future financial strength of AOL. Its advertising business has been hit hard in the econalpyse, with hopes it will return before its money-generating access business continues its slow decline.

Armstrong is now in the midst of looking over AOL’s cost structure and employee base, which most expect will eventually result in another round of layoffs and cuts.

He has been busy creating a different strategy for the company since he arrived earlier this year, as well as hiring (and firing) top execs to create a new management structure.

Now, that includes Garlinghouse.

So, for a look-see at AOL’s latest talent acquisition, here’s a video interview I did with him, just after Yahoo bought Zimbra:

And here’s the full press release from AOL about the hiring of Garlinghouse:

AOL NAMES BRAD GARLINGHOUSE AS PRESIDENT, INTERNET AND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

NEW YORK, N.Y.–September 8, 2009–AOL today named Brad Garlinghouse as President of Internet and Mobile Communications, spearheading AOL’s global efforts to expand the reach of its e-mail and instant messaging. Garlinghouse will also take on an expanded leadership position for the company, heading up AOL’s Silicon Valley operations from its Mountain View campus and serving as the West Coast lead for AOL Ventures, the company’s venture capital arm headed globally by Jon Brod. Garlinghouse was most recently at Silver Lake Partners as an in-house Senior Advisor.

Prior to Silver Lake, Garlinghouse spent nearly six years at Yahoo!, where he led that company’s communications and community products. Garlinghouse will report directly to AOL’s Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong.

” Brad Garlinghouse is an all-star in the Internet industry with an unparalleled background and proven track record, having led Yahoo’s communications products to unprecedented growth,” said Armstrong. “In addition to leading our efforts to grow our communications products, Brad will be bringing his global leadership and business experience as a key member of our company’s executive leadership team. He will also be a major force for AOL in Silicon Valley, working to expand our presence there and in the tech community in general. We’re delighted to have Brad on board and know he’ll do great things for AOL.”

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to join AOL at this pivotal moment in its history,” Garlinghouse said. “Tim has set out a clear strategy and vision for where he is taking this company as it becomes independent again. I’m looking forward to working with him and the rest of the team to realize that vision.”

Armstrong, who joined AOL in April, identified Communications as one of the five key areas of strategic focus for AOL after an extensive 100-day review of the company’s business. Other focus areas include Content, Advertising, Local & Mapping and AOL Ventures.

Garlinghouse spent nearly six years at Yahoo! where he most recently served as SVP of Communications and Communities. Prior to that he served as SVP of Communications, Communities and Front Doors, which included the Yahoo! home page. He came to Yahoo in 2003 as VP, Communication Products. During his time there, Yahoo! Mail went from No. 3 to leading all competitors by a wide margin, and the company’s instant messaging service rose to become the leader in that market as well. Garlinghouse also oversaw the company’s Flickr photo-sharing service and Yahoo! Groups.

Prior to Yahoo!, Garlinghouse was CEO of Dialpad.com Inc., responsible for all aspects of the company’s operations, finance, sales and marketing. He was also General Partner at @Ventures, Category Manager of Media Development for the @Home Network, Inc., and Manager at SBC Communications.

Garlinghouse, 38, received his BA in economics from the University of Kansas and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

On Friday, BoomTown first reported that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is likely to be announcing a sweeping new management structure soon, which can only mean the possibility that some existing top execs are likely to be broomed out, even as some new ones are ushered in.

“This is going to be a full-scale peanut butter recall,” joked one exec, referring to the infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which was sent around the company several years ago by former exec Brad Garlinghouse. It laid bare the problems at Yahoo (YHOO), most especially a decided lack of decision-making and lugubrious levels of managers.

But the reorganization of Yahoo’s top-heavy management structures–I once dubbed it the “attack of the Yahoo vice presidents”–will be a bit sticky, given all the (slow-)moving parts at Yahoo (YHOO).

Nonetheless, Bartz signaled a “big week” ahead in one internal memo I obtained, which was sent out Friday.

So what’s to come?

Here’s a rough primer, based on talking to numerous sources inside and outside of Yahoo:

The Basics:

In order to start to revive Yahoo, Bartz is likely to impose a more top-down management style on the hopelessly confusing “matrix” organization now in place at the company.

She has spent the last six weeks touring Yahoo, getting to see a lot of presentations on its many, many products and conducting a whirlwind of meetings with execs.

Broadly, most expect Bartz to severely roll back a variety of previous reorganizations done by former CEO Jerry Yang and outgoing President Sue Decker, in order to impose more centralized control over the place and focus it more narrowly.

Presumably, lattes–paid for by Yang and co-founder David Filo–will remain free.

Out With the Old:

There’s no question that Yahoo is going to see the departure of several top execs, along with the elevation of others.

Among those who are more likely to be definitely in, though, is CTO Ari Balogh (pictured here), a relatively recent hire who has been a popular exec within Yahoo.

The Wall Street Journal first noted the possible rise of Balogh in a follow-up piece to this column’s story on the overall reorg over the weekend, noting that he would become head of product.

Presumably, Balogh will be one of the point men on what to do about search, in the should-I-stay-or-should-I-sell-now debate that never seems to end at Yahoo.

One interesting idea floating around Yahoo is that he becomes head of all its products, as well as continuing to run its tech arm.

That’s a good idea, since Yahoo has desperately needed an empowered leader under Bartz, who focuses like a laser beam on products.

“It all starts with that,” said one former exec. “One single person has to be the champion of what Yahoo makes.”

But what does that mean for Ash Patel, EVP of Yahoo’s Audience Product Division? Well, the longtime Yahoo veteran could now report to Balogh (he had previously reported to Decker directly) or, presumably, leave.

Patel’s fate, of course, impacts that of many others, such as Front Doors head Tapan Bhat, who is in charge of a major homepage redesign that Bartz just delayed the launch of to make it better.

Venkat Panchapakesan, EVP of the Audience Technology Group, seems safer, given that he reports to Balogh already and is responsible for the company’s overall product technology and platform strategy, such as its open efforts.

Also safer than not is General Counsel Michael Callahan, as well as U.S. EVP Hilary Schneider.

But Schneider’s purview might change a bit if U.S. advertising sales head Joanne Bradford–who now reports to her–is elevated to a higher position or if sales is taken out from under Schneider.

It’s not a stretch to imagine Bartz wanting more control of the part of Yahoo that brings in the bucks.

The fate of Connected Life Division EVP Marco Boerries is dicier–think Yahoo mobile and other devices–as it is for CFO Blake Jorgensen and David Windley, who heads human resources.

Both Jorgensen and Windley were favored by Decker, which does not necessarily make them goners. But both are in jobs on which Bartz will have to rely much more, so she might want her own choices in place.

Boerries (pictured here), a talented but more freewheeling exec under Yang, is another question all together. Already wealthy from selling several companies, the entrepreneurial exec is most often mentioned by sources as someone unlikely to stick around, especially if Bartz tries to rein him in more. (In addition, Boerries has family issues requiring that he spend a lot of time in his native Germany.)

As to the many Yahoo SVPs and VPs? Let’s just say it is likely there will be many fewer of them, as Bartz cuts, consolidates, simplifies and centralizes divisions more.

In With the New:

One hire that is definitely coming is a new chief of marketing to take over Yahoo’s brand, as well as its PR function. Yahoo has not had that kind of powerful exec in a long time, and it is more likely Bartz will go for an outside star here.

One outside name skittering around Yahoo for the role is John Vail (pictured here), director of interactive marketing for Pepsi-Cola North America, who knows Yahoo well.

(An obvious internal candidate for the job would be Yahoo’s Global Brand Marketing SVP, Allen Olivo, who could hit the road if not selected.)

Also a possibility is adding a COO with more Web experience to come in to help Bartz. There are plenty of candidates for that job all over the Internet sector.

But Bartz seems to be the kind of exec who favors flying solo and having key execs report to her to keep a finger on the pulse of a company. She is most definitely not going to have an entourage around her.

In fact, said one person familiar with the situation: “It’s long past time for new plumbing, and [Bartz] seems ready to flush a lot out that has long needed to go.”

As has been copiously reported here and all over, Yahoo and AOL have been engaged in never-ending talks about a possible deal to merge their flagging Internet businesses.

Now, sources tell me, the circle of executives at both companies interfacing with each other has been widened, for purposes of due diligence.

That chit-chatting includes Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who has been in New York several times recently [UPDATE: But not yesterday, in a story I had previously linked to here]–where AOL parent, Time Warner, is located–to meet once with its CEO, Jeff Bewkes, and see if they can actually complete the merger.

Now, all this frantic activity does not mean a deal will necessarily be struck. In fact, in typical Yahoo style, it is going very slowly and that is never a good thing in dealmaking.

But it is this kind of ramped-up blabbery that has many at both companies predicting–hoping, really–that a deal will go through, sooner or later, as soon as Time Warner and Yahoo can agree on a price.

Or, more precisely, a percentage, since Yahoo’s stock price has been falling like a particularly sharp knife of late.

Sources said Yahoo does not want Time Warner (TWX) to have any more than 25 percent of the new company in a trade for AOL’s assets–although that figure would be slightly more if the media giant throws in some of that “Harry Potter”-generated cash into the deal kitty.

Yahoo (YHOO) management, sources said, also think its assets are of significantly better quality than AOL’s, and it still has that powerful–although declining–share in the lucrative search market.

Thus, it does not want to pay the $8 to $10 billion price Time Warner wants, and it should not either. (Here is a good analysis on the price issue by Silicon Alley Insider’s Henry Blodget.)

But Yahoo shares closed yesterday at a troubling $14.58, down 73 cents, or almost five percent.

That means its market valuation also declined by many billion dollars very quickly. It is now at $20.2 billion.

These profound stock drops, said several sources, could spur Yahoo to act before it gets even worse, which is why talks have been more frequent in recent weeks.

While not the best state of mind, panic is always a good motivator, and both companies are surely desperate to turbocharge themselves in the face of tough competition and avoidable management mishaps in recent years.

The hope? That together the pair can do better than they have separately–by combining their advertising, content and communications assets, which are among the largest in the world.

In addition, the “new” Yahoo would be able to make massive cost cuts, including layoffs, under the cover of integration and starting off with a clean slate.

So who would emerge more powerful in a new set-up–AOL or Yahoo?

Here’s a short cheat list:

Content:

AOL and Yahoo have a similar range of content assets, with big sites in all the classic categories, like news, financial, sports and lifestyles. Yahoo’s content head is Scott Moore, while AOL’s is Bill Wilson (both pictured here, left to right).

As I wrote yesterday, I expect that the more dominant Yahoo will rule, slashing and burning most of the AOL-branded properties, keeping only interesting newer brands like sports blog FanHouse, celeb blog TMZ and the Engadget, Tuaw and JoyStiq tech blogs.

And while former Microsoftie Moore is the likely head of this behemoth, don’t count on the very adept Wilson, who is known as a skilled corporate player at AOL, to stick around without a big role in this arena.

Communications:

Again, advantage Yahoo, which has bigger calendaring, email and instant messaging assets, an area once overwhelmingly dominated by AOL. That was then, of course.

Still, AOL’s communications tools are used by a huge audience worldwide and the pair together would be a powerhouse. So much so, in fact, that this might be the one major regulatory hurdle any deal would face.

Advertising:

Again, Yahoo would probably dominate, having just hired well-known former Microsoft exec Joanne Bradford to head up U.S. advertising sales. AOL’s top ad exec is Lynda Clarizio, a former lawyer who is considered dogged but much less experienced than Bradford. (Both are pictured here, right to left.)

And, Yahoo does have its search ad business, however weakening, and a stronger graphical ad business, even if the sector will be most under siege in the current down economy.

Plus, AOL’s Advertising.com, while a major ad network, is more of a business subject to bruising competition and squeezed margins.

Community:

Tapan Bhat (pictured here) now rules community at Yahoo, as well as its homepage, having just inherited it from the departing Brad Garlinghouse.

But AOL has a savvy and voluble exec in Joanna Shields, who came recently via its Bebo social-networking acquisition. While AOL woefully overpaid for Bebo and got played into thinking that other bidders were more interested than they actually were, it was Shields (pictured here) who essentially did that playing.

Sign her up for a top exec role in the combined company pronto!

In all seriousness, there is room for both in the newco, as both AOL and Yahoo seriously bite in the social-networking space. They will surely need a lot more than Bhat and Shields if they want to become true players in Web 2.0’s hottest and probably most important trend.

Engineering:

Yahoo. I do not need to explain this, do I?

Okay: AOL has always been incompetent in the technical arena, since its beginning days, compared with Silicon Valley companies like Yahoo.

All yours, Ash Patel!

Management:

Now, it is here that it gets interesting.

Most feel the push by Yang to do an AOL deal–and make no mistake, it is being pushed by him most of all–is due to increased pressure from his board, as well as major investors, who have had just about enough of his leadership.

“There is no way Jerry stays on as CEO in a newco,” said one source about Yang (pictured here). “He’ll be kicked upstairs as chairman, and I will think [President Sue] Decker will also have to go eventually, since there will be a lot of resistance if she is named CEO.”

But, said other sources, these major management changes will not happen immediately, if at all, as it is too distracting in the wake of a deal and ruins the positive “story” that both companies will surely want to spin.

And spin they will! (Go, Tricia! Go, Jill!)

And while he has a reputation for sharkish political skills, especially compared to Yahoo’s very diplomatic U.S. head, Hilary Schneider, expect AOL President Ron Grant to be an important part of the transition, since he is good–almost too good–at cutting costs.

Most expect his boss, AOL CEO Randy Falco, not to be part of the new company, thereby separating him and Grant, who are nicknamed “Smithers and Burns” at AOL, after “The Simpsons” creepy duo.

Most likely, there will be a search for a top-level CEO to take over the combined company–someone of the stature of New Corp.’s No. 2 Peter Chernin or eBay’s former leader Meg Whitman (except now, she is apparently Sen. John McCain’s pick for Treasury Secretary, if the Republican Presidential candidate were to win the election).

“If this has any chance of working out, the board has to push restart on the leadership,” said one person close to the situation, who notes that this deal is Yang’s last chance to truly impact the future of the company he co-founded and preserve its legacy. “Everyone gets that, even Jerry.”

But I think the idea that Yang would leave if there were to be a merger of Yahoo with AOL is wishful thinking on the part of his critics.

He appears tome to be very committed to seeing his vision of turning around Yahoo through.

And those who have counted him out always seem to be the ones who have been typically wrong, such as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and shareholder activist Carl Icahn.

Because, for all the turmoil at Yahoo, it’s Yang still calling the shots.

Jerry wrote: yahoos,

it’s time for another update.

Translation: Yep! Still no adult punctuation! We might continue to face serious big-boy issues at the company, but we refuse to give in on our insistence on kindergarten spelling patterns.

In that vein, would you like a nice cold glass of chocolate milk before I get to the bad news?

Jerry wrote: as a company, we’ve made some great progress this year. while it hasn’t been easy, especially in light of the challenges we’ve faced (not to mention the current downturn in the macro economic environment), we’ve accomplished a tremendous amount and we’re all working hard to continue executing on the company’s strategic plan.

Translation: As a company, we have managed to avoid disaster more times that Serena and Dan have broken up and reunited on one episode of “Gossip Girl.”

We’re foiled Steve Ballmer of Microsoft (MSFT)! We’ve co-opted shareholder activist Carl Icahn! We’ve pissed off investors like Gordon Crawford!

Much like Serena and Dan, who are arguably a lot sexier to watch in their state of complete plot paralysis, that all this has moved Yahoo (YHOO) precisely zero feet forward in terms of true changes at the company does not matter.

Jerry wrote: as we look ahead and to position us for success in 2009, we’re continuing the work already underway to get fit as an organization: actively looking for ways to make process and structural changes to our business that will allow us to work more efficiently, with more scale. we’ve enlisted the help of Bain & Co. to work with the leadership team on identifying ways to leverage our strengths, and to improve and accelerate our performance. we all know and experience parts of yahoo! where we can do better and be more agile in a competitive marketplace. this is consistent with what you told us in the YEES survey conducted in may–we need to find easier ways to work within yahoo!, and more importantly, create an even better experience for our customers and users.

Translation: Here come the weasel management consultants!

By saying “actively looking for ways to make process and structural changes to our business that will allow us to work more efficiently,” we actually mean layoffs.

By “identifying ways to leverage our strengths, and to improve and accelerate our performance,” we actually mean learning how to make layoffs.

By “we need to find easier ways to work within yahoo!,” we actually mean having the weasels, oops, Bain, tell us the best way to get rid of people via … layoffs!

Jerry wrote: each one of us will play an important role in this process. in the coming weeks, we’ll be soliciting your input and feedback. i want to know how we can improve the way we work with each other, and the way others work with yahoo!.

Translation: While the famous “Peanut Butter Manifesto” by Brad Garlinghouse (who laid himself off!) outlined all this and more years and years ago, we’d like you to tell us the best way to fix what’s broken, even though that has been, well, the presumable job of management.

Also, if you have any thoughts on who we should lay off, please do not hesitate to put your suggestions in the purple boxes we have placed strategically throughout the campus (and stuffing ballots with my name on them will not count!).

Jerry wrote: i know that yahoo! can benefit greatly from more discipline among all departments and functions, across the company. longer term, getting fit now will enable us to be more successful moving forward.

Translation: Discipline = layoffs. Getting fit = layoffs. But just think how lean and trim we’ll look when it is all over!

Jerry wrote: thanks,

jerry

Translation: Thanks and please don’t forget to take your complimentary purple Yahoo cozy on the way out! (The Bain people said it would be a nice touch.)

And, as an added plus, here is a decoding of the fully-punctuated statement Yahoo PR guy Brad Williams made about rumors of possible layoffs at the company:

Brad wrote: Yahoo! has been exploring ways to streamline our processes and bring new agility and efficiency to how we work as an organization. As part of this effort, we have engaged Bain & Co. to help us identify opportunities for improvement. This work is well underway, with the ultimate goal of positioning Yahoo! to achieve long-term, sustainable growth.

Translation: After I am laid off, I think we can all agree that this kind of stunning verbal acrobatics is sure to impress the folks over at Dunder Mifflin, where I hope to work next.

After all, Garlinghouse’s infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto” was the key ur-moment that one could point to as the one in which the curtains were pulled back at the troubled Internet company to reveal, well, a very sticky mess.

Garlinghouse (pictured here), who ran communications and communities for Yahoo (YHOO), is set to be replaced in part by Scott Dietzen, who was the president and CTO of Zimbra (and before that CTO of BEA Systems). Yahoo bought the highly innovative open-source email startup last fall for $350 million.

(By the way, Dietzen will get only 50%–communications products and services–of Garlinghouse’s job, while Front Door head Tapan Bhat will get communities.)

But back to Brad and peanut butter: The 2006 internal document, penned by the Yahoo senior vice president, essentially unfairly impugned delicious peanut butter by using it as a metaphor for Yahoo spreading its resources too thinly.

As far as I am concerned, life is all in the spreading–you can go thick with peanut butter, Brad!

In any case, as a memorial to the Garlinghouse era, BoomTown decodes the manifesto:

Brad wrote: Three and half years ago, I enthusiastically joined Yahoo! The magnitude of the opportunity was only matched by the magnitude of the assets. And an amazing team has been responsible for rebuilding Yahoo!

I proudly bleed purple and yellow everyday! And like so many people here, I love this company.

Translation: This is the borderline cultish kissing-up part, before I deliver the coup de nut.

Thus: Blah, blah, blah–love it! Blah, blah, double blah–so profound I think I shall weep!

And the nuclear blah, blah, blah–I pull out the bleeding purple and yellow expression, used way too often at Yahoo, which, when you really think about it, is just gross.

Brad wrote: But all is not well. Last Thursday’s NY Times article was a blessing in the disguise of a painful public flogging. While it lacked accurate details, its conclusions rang true, and thus was a much needed wake-up call. But also a call to action. A clear statement with which I, and far too many Yahoos, agreed. And thankfully a reminder. A reminder that the measure of any person is not in how many times he or she falls down–but rather the spirit and resolve used to get back up. The same is now true of our Company.

It’s time for us to get back up.

Translation: Cue ominous music! Drag out the “Rocky I-VI” cliches (except for V, which sucked)! Order those I’ve-Fallen- and-I-Can’t- Get-Up thingies for the entire company. Also, insult the media, even though that’s exactly where all Yahoo employees get the most up-to-date information about what’s what here.

Brad wrote: I believe we must embrace our problems and challenges and that we must take decisive action. We have the opportunity–in fact the invitation–to send a strong, clear and powerful message to our shareholders and Wall Street, to our advertisers and our partners, to our employees (both current and future), and to our users. They are all begging for a signal that we recognize and understand our problems, and that we are charting a course for fundamental change. Our current course and speed simply will not get us there. Short-term band-aids will not get us there.

It’s time for us to get back up and seize this invitation.

Translation: You realize, of course, this was written in 2006! Um, almost two years ago. And nothing has, well, changed all that much.

Strong, clear and powerful message that we understand our problems and are charting a course for fundamental change?

A cow could fall through the crack that task disappeared into!

Brad wrote: I imagine there’s much discussion amongst the Company’s senior most leadership around the challenges we face. At the risk of being redundant, I wanted to share my take on our current situation and offer a recommended path forward, an attempt to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Translation: No one in senior management is listening to me. I’ll show them Tom-Cruise- Jerry-Maguire style!

Show me the money!

Brad wrote: Recognizing Our Problems

Translation: Help me, help you. Help me, help you.

Brad wrote: We lack a focused, cohesive vision for our company. We want to do everything and be everything–to everyone. We’ve known this for years, talk about it incessantly, but do nothing to fundamentally address it. We are scared to be left out. We are reactive instead of charting an unwavering course. We are separated into silos that far too frequently don’t talk to each other. And when we do talk, it isn’t to collaborate on a clearly focused strategy, but rather to argue and fight about ownership, strategies and tactics.

Our inclination and proclivity to repeatedly hire leaders from outside the company results in disparate visions of what winning looks like–rather than a leadership team rallying around a single cohesive strategy.

Translation: This, of course, is the description of the basic family setup of “The Sopranos.” Except we have no Bada-Bing.

I so wish we had a Bada-Bing at Yahoo, instead of that not-Google cafeteria.

In fact, I wish we had Tony Soprano running the place, except I personally think he got shot during that annoying “Don’t Stop Believin’” ending (see video below!).

Brad wrote: I’ve heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do and thus we focus on nothing in particular.

I hate peanut butter. We all should.

Translation: I hate peanut butter. We all should.

That is, those of us whose parents did not know how to make a proper sandwich.

Brad wrote: We lack clarity of ownership and accountability. The most painful manifestation of this is the massive redundancy that exists throughout the organization. We now operate in an organizational structure–admittedly created with the best of intentions–that has become overly bureaucratic. For far too many employees, there is another person with dramatically similar and overlapping responsibilities. This slows us down and burdens the company with unnecessary costs.

Translation: Again, this was two years ago. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.

That’s French for peanut butter.

Brad wrote: Equally problematic, at what point in the organization does someone really OWN the success of their product or service or feature? Product, marketing, engineering, corporate strategy, financial operations…there are so many people in charge (or believe that they are in charge) that it’s not clear if anyone is in charge. This forces decisions to be pushed up–rather than down. It forces decisions by committee or consensus and discourages the innovators from breaking the mold…thinking outside the box.

There’s a reason why a centerfielder and a left fielder have clear areas of ownership. Pursuing the same ball repeatedly results in either collisions or dropped balls. Knowing that someone else is pursuing the ball and hoping to avoid that collision–we have become timid in our pursuit. Again, the ball drops.

Translation: It is like Al Haig gone wild at Yahoo–I’m in charge here!

And then right onto the business-as-a-baseball game cliche, as we are like “The Bad News Bears” at Yahoo. Except we could use a drunk coach like Walter Matthau right about now.

Brad wrote: We lack decisiveness. Combine a lack of focus with unclear ownership, and the result is that decisions are either not made or are made when it is already too late. Without a clear and focused vision, and without complete clarity of ownership, we lack a macro perspective to guide our decisions and visibility into who should make those decisions. We are repeatedly stymied by challenging and hairy decisions. We are held hostage by our analysis paralysis.

Translation: Yahoo Held Hostage! This is an eerie precursor to CEO Jerry Yang’s 100-day No Sacred Cow Vision Quest, isn’t it?

Brad wrote: We end up with competing (or redundant) initiatives and synergistic opportunities living in the different silos of our company.

• Global strategy from BU vs. Global strategy from Int’l

Translation: There can be only one! Although one is the loneliest number, which is why we have two of everything.

Brad wrote: We have lost our passion to win. Far too many employees are “phoning” it in, lacking the passion and commitment to be a part of the solution. We sit idly by while–at all levels–employees are enabled to “hang around.” Where is the accountability? Moreover, our compensation systems don’t align to our overall success. Weak performers that have been around for years are rewarded. And many of our top performers aren’t adequately recognized for their efforts.

As a result, the employees that we really need to stay (leaders, risk-takers, innovators, passionate) become discouraged and leave. Unfortunately many who opt to stay are not the ones who will lead us through the dramatic change that is needed.

Translation: By “phoning” it in, I mean from their cellphones at home. By “hang around,” I mean at the bar near the office.

By employees that we really need to stay (leaders, risk-takers, innovators, passionate) become discouraged and leave, I mean me! Buh-bye, Ash!

Brad wrote: Solving our Problems

Translation: And now I return to Jerry Maguire!–Help me, help you. Help me, help you.

Brad wrote: We have awesome assets. Nearly every media and communications company is painfully jealous of our position. We have the largest audience, they are highly engaged and our brand is synonymous with the Internet.

I don’t pretend there is only one path forward available to us. However, at a minimum, I want to be part of the solution and thus have outlined a plan here that I believe can work. It is my strong belief that we need to act very quickly or risk going further down a slippery slope. The plan here is not perfect; it is, however, FAR better than no action at all.

Translation: More Maguire required! I will not rest until I have you holding a Coke, wearing your own shoe, playing a Sega game *featuring you*, while singing your own song in a new commercial, *starring you*, broadcast during the Super Bowl, in a game that you are winning, and I will not *sleep* until that happens. I’ll give you 15 minutes to call me back.

Brad wrote: There are three pillars to my plan:

I emphatically believe we simply must eliminate the redundancies we have created and the first step in doing this is by restructuring our organization. We can be more efficient with fewer people and we can get more done, more quickly. We need to return more decision-making to a new set of business units and their leadership. But we can’t achieve this with baby-step changes. We need to fundamentally rethink how we organize to win.

Translation: In a peanutshell, let’s be Google (GOOG).

Brad wrote: Independent of specific proposals of what this reorganization should look like, two key principles must be represented:

Kill the redundancies. Align a set of new BU’s so that they are not competing against each other. Search focuses on search. Social media aligns with community and communications. No competing owners for Video, Photos, etc. And Front Page becomes Switzerland. This will be a delicate exercise–decentralization can create inefficiencies, but I believe we can find the right balance.

Translation: Or, maybe we could be Facebook.

Brad wrote: I love Yahoo! I’m proud to admit that I bleed purple and yellow. I’m proud to admit that I shaved a Y in the back of my head.

Translation: More yucky purple and yellow bleeding with a cup full of Britney-Spears-crazy hairstyling on top!

Brad wrote: My motivation for this memo is the adamant belief that, as before, we have a tremendous opportunity ahead. I don’t pretend that I have the only available answers, but we need to get the discussion going; change is needed and it is needed soon. We can be a stronger and faster company–a company with a clearer vision and clearer ownership and clearer accountability.

Catch the balls.

Translation: My motivation for this memo is the adamant belief that it will drive my bosses nuts and someone will surely leak it to the press.

Thus, I wind up with the marathon-not-a-sprint cliche, sprinkle in the get-up one and round the bases with the baseball cliche.

Brad wrote: And stop eating peanut butter.

Translation: Despite my unfair impugning of the peanut-loving work of George Washington Carver, I secretly love peanut butter.

But it once got in my chocolate. Or did my chocolate get in my peanut butter?

In any case, soon to come: The Jelly Memo. That’ll be sweet!

And here is the last minutes of “The Sopranos,” where Tony–and here is an exhaustive and convincing explanation as to why–got whacked:

Sources said a more substantial public announcement has been pushed by Yahoo’s board–apparently, an internal email to employees was considered too–to show Yahoo’s new team and that the company still has a strong bench, despite a lot of exec departures of late.

As we already wrote, the structure will pivot on several key execs, reporting to President Sue Decker.

EVP of Yahoo’s Platforms and Infrastructure division Ash Patel as head of a new Audience Products group (its name was changed from Global Products); Global Partner Solutions EVP Hilary Schneider as the head of a new U.S unit; various folks running around the rest of the globe.

There will also be another strategy team group with a new head, who has not yet been chosen.

And Yahoo will name Scott Dietzen (pictured, right) to take over part of the job of SVP Brad Garlinghouse, who running was running all communications properties and products. Dietzen will get the communications portfolio, which includes email and messaging, all under Patel.

(Community properties like Flickr will actually move under Front Door Head Tapan Bhat, who also reports to Patel.)

Dietzen was the president and CTO of Zimbra (and before that CTO of BEA Systems), the highly innovative open-source email startup Yahoo bought last fall for $350 million.

Garlinghouse (pictured, left), as we reported last night, will not be officially leaving until the end of the summer, though. He is currently traveling in Asia, sources said, and has not yet decided on a new gig.

He is, of course, the man who wrote the infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which first revealed deep tension within Yahoo.

Yahoo is likely to also announce changes in the engineering organization under CTO Ari Balogh, who is also orchestrating some massive and much-needed changes in the arena at Yahoo.

The only issue that arose was over the appointment of Ash Patel to head the new Global Products group. His appointment was greeted with internal dissent, but Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang was said to have insisted that Patel remain on as planned.

Last week, I outlined the sweeping internal changes at Yahoo (YHOO), which will again dramatically change the structure of management.

As we wrote, the new Global Products group will be headed by Patel (pictured here), who is currently EVP of Yahoo’s Platforms and Infrastructure division.

Much of the Network division, which until recently was under the leadership of the now departed Jeff Weiner, will move under Patel, including search, mail, instant messenger, front page, platforms and social networking.

All these products are considered “global” properties and products, including divisions run by communications and communities SVP Brad Garlinghouse, former Search SVP Vish Makhijani and Front Door head Tapan Bhat.

While Makhijnai is leaving, Bhat is staying so far and Garlinghouse–despite previous reports of his imminent departure–will likely stay on through the summer.

Sources said the prospect of working for Patel is not a welcome one for some Yahoo execs in the old Network division.

Patel has been at Yahoo since 1996, and some do not think his operational style is dynamic enough and claim his division has had problems shipping products.

In the new organization, Global Partner Solutions EVP Hilary Schneider (pictured here) will get purview over the entire U.S. region.

Schneider will continue to oversee all ad sales and add on the Yahoo Media Group under Scott Moore, who was Weiner’s other direct report.

That shift will bring together Yahoo’s vast content properties, like Yahoo Finance, with ad sales and align them more closely.

The rest of the world will be split up between three other regions: Europe, headed by Toby Coppel; Asia, run by Rose Tsou; and emerging markets, headed by Keith Nilsson.

Patel, Schneider and the others all report to Yahoo President Sue Decker.

The reorg was largely run by Decker (pictured here) and top HR execs. Yang was involved but not very visible in the process to top managers.

And all of this reorg might be moot anyway.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is still pursuing his proxy fight to remove Yahoo’s board and management, which could come to a head at Yahoo’s annual meeting on Aug. 1.

And investors are pressing Microsoft (MSFT) to make another proposal to run Yahoo’s search ad and search businesses, which could include the software giant buying a significant stake in Yahoo.

While some think Yang will soon hand over the CEO reins to Decker, increasing numbers of insiders and outside investors are pushing for new management at the top, as Yahoo’s shares decline and more and more talent takes flight from the company.

“A fish stinks from the head,” joked one employee. “This reorg is change, but what we might need goes higher than this.”

Oh, Scott! Oh, Tapan! Want an extra office? Perhaps a giant sword?

Of the four powerful direct reports to former Yahoo Network division head Jeff Weiner–Front Door and Network Services’ Tapan Bhat, Brad Garlinghouse, who heads Yahoo’s communications and communities arenas, Media Group head Scott Moore and Yahoo Search’s Vish Makhijani–it seems only two are sticking around for now in the current state of extreme flux at Yahoo (YHOO).

That would be Moore and Bhat, who are being quiet–too quiet–as the new reorg, which we reported on in detail here, chugs into place next week.

It feels like an endless loop of “The Highlander” movie over at Yahoo these days!

The group seemingly collapsed after Weiner’s departure last week in a heap of increasingly messy goodbyes.

Makhijani is out, although it is not entirely clear that Garlinghouse is as yet.

Several sources now tell me he is considering staying around through the summer, rather than leaving in a week.

That is, unless a great opportunity opens up for the man who penned the infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which started Yahoo off on this journey of painful self-discovery.

Thanks, Brad!

Which leaves us with the fate of Bhat and Moore.

As I wrote, current plans are to fold the highly likable Bhat (pictured here) and his group into a new one called Global Products, which will be run by Ash Patel, currently EVP of Yahoo’s Platforms and Infrastructure division.

Bhat’s properties, like MyYahoo, are considered “global” and will be managed out of Yahoo HQ in Sunnyvale, Calif.

But will he stay?

While Bhat is reportedly unsure about the new structure and is considering his options, most expect him to do so, as there could be considerable upside for him even with Yahoo’s current turmoil.

So too for Moore (pictured here), who runs the Yahoo Media Group, which will be moved under Hilary Schneider, who is currently the Global Partner Solutions EVP.

The new org will bring together Yahoo’s vast content properties, like Yahoo Finance, with ad sales and align them more closely.

Several sources said Moore, a former Microsoft (MSFT) exec, is satisfied about the new arrangement and the prospect of reporting to Schneider.

And if Microsoft does return and try another takeover, he would also likely be set.

But other sources said he also has been scouting out a new start-up venture that could include some significant investors.

Indeed, execs like Moore and Bhat have a truckload of options, in any case.

Why? Because Yahoo’s President Sue Decker, who is helming the reorg, cannot afford to lose more top execs, placing the pair in the catbird seat.

And, with a lot of Web 2.0 companies in need of some experienced execs, familiar with big Internet companies, the sky might be the limit there too.

Company in crisis? Employees morale plummeting? Shareholders in revolt? Stock slumping? Barbarians at the gate?

The perfect time to get out the Rubik’s Cube for yet another Yahoo reorganization!

BoomTown now has the outline of the likely sweeping management changes at Yahoo (YHOO), which we reported on earlier this week here and also here, to be announced next week by the troubled Internet company.

The reorg, which will drastically change the structure of management, explains a lot about the spate of recent departures by top execs at the company.

Let’s just dive in, shall we?

First off, a spanking new Global Products group, which will be headed by Ash Patel (pictured here), who is currently EVP of Yahoo’s Platforms and Infrastructure division.

Much of the Network division, which until recently was under the leadership of the now departed Jeff Weiner, will move under Patel, including search, mail, instant messenger, front page, platforms and social networking.

All these products are considered “global” properties and products and will be managed out of Yahoo HQ in Sunnyvale, Calif.

That means the fiefdoms of communications and communities SVP Brad Garlinghouse, Search SVP Vish Makhijani and Front Door head Tapan Bhat will move into Global Products.

Which would explain why Makhijani is now headed out the door and Garlinghouse is on the fence about his own departure.

Bhat is also reportedly unsure about the new structure and is considering his options.

Unlike Qi Lu, Yahoo’s EVP of Search and Advertising Technology, who is also leaving and is considered a tech rock star at Yahoo, the prospect of working for Patel is not a welcome one for some Yahoo execs in the old Network division.

Patel has been at Yahoo since 1996, which makes him one of the oldest of old guards at the company.

“No one wants to report up through him,” said one Yahoo exec. “He’s a Yahoo lifer and not the kind of dynamic leader we need.”

More welcome–although not by all–is likely to be the move to give Global Partner Solutions EVP Hilary Schneider (pictured here) purview over the entire U.S. region.

She will be Patel’s peer in the new organization and both will report directly to Yahoo President Sue Decker.

Schneider’s arena will include all of ad sales and also the Yahoo Media Group under Scott Moore, who was Weiner’s other direct report.

That shift will bring together Yahoo’s vast content properties, like Yahoo Finance, with ad sales and align them more closely.

In addition, some other consumer-facing products will move to Moore under Schneider.

In the last reorganization, Moore got autos and real estate, as well as all entertainment and sports.

Several sources said Moore, a former Microsoft (MSFT) exec, is satisfied about the new arrangement and the prospect of reporting to Schneider.

But other sources said he also has been scouting out a new start-up venture that could include some significant investors.

In addition, some execs are worried about the likable Schneider’s ability to handle such a large job.

“There is lot on her plate and, while she is good at the business side, she is not a products person,” said one in a common refrain about her.

The rest of the world will be split up between three other regions: Europe, headed by Toby Coppel; Asia, run by Rose Tsou; and emerging markets, headed by Keith Nilsson.

Yahoo’s relatively new CTO Ari Balogh will take over a lot of Lu’s team with various engineering execs under him.

Top managers, most of whom had little input in the reorg, which was run by Decker (pictured here) and top HR execs, are reeling from the changes being presented with what most say is little consultation.

“I am not sure right now, with all this drama and all this tension from Microsoft’s failed takeover and the rest of it, why we have to do this,” said another exec. “This feels crazy.”

Maybe not so much. Yahoo shareholders are becoming restless after Microsoft dropped its $33 a share bid for Yahoo and want some action soon.

And billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is still pursuing his proxy fight to remove Yahoo’s board and management.

Insiders within Yahoo suspect that top execs want to make changes before the Aug. 1 annual meeting, so they can show momentum.

The question is whether that will include another more significant change–the stepping up to Chairman for Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and the handing over the CEO reins to Decker.

Many execs said that Yang has been strangely absent from the communications around the reorg, which has been driven largely by Decker.

“Where’s Jerry here? He is like a ghost,” said another exec. “It is nerve-wracking.”

Oh, BoomTown had to say it, didn’t I?

But, as SVP Brad Garlinghouse’s fate is still uncertain at Yahoo (YHOO), his edge-of-your-seat situation is the latest wrenching dramatic shift at a company that can’t seem to stop producing them.

While reports say he has quit, Garlinghouse actually has not done that yet and will not likely make a definitive move to leave for at least a week or longer, unlike fellow Yahoo SVPs Qi Lu and Vish Makhijani, who have tendered their resignations this week.

And, of course, their boss, Network division head Jeff Weiner, who left Yahoo last week.

Garlinghouse’s departure, given all the attention, could move forward quickly, as Weiner’s did, especially given all the tumult at Yahoo. He is Yahoo’s SVP in charge of communications and communities.

So why are he and others leaving?

Sources say Garlinghouse and the other execs are deeply unhappy about the new reorganization being architected largely by President Sue Decker.

Structured now to hand over a lot more power to Yahoo EVP Hilary Schneider, who runs the Global Partner Solutions division, the changes are being made without a lot of input from execs like Garlinghouse.

Instead, Decker–with Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang–is working with a small group of top managers, especially Chief Human Resources Officer David Windley, so a lot of other top managers are largely in the dark about the changes.

This is not a good thing for morale, given that the reorg is likely to take power from the various fiefdoms at Yahoo that execs like Garlinghouse have presided over.

That’s why, unless the balance of power is changed in the new plan, it is unlikely Garlinghouse will stay on, said several sources, much more than a week or two.

If it happens, his departure will be more than ironic.

After all, it was Garlinghouse who got this whole thing started–or at least unveiled Yahoo’s internal problems to the world–with his famous “Peanut Butter Manifesto” in November of 2006.

Taking about Yahoo’s problems, he used peanut butter as a metaphor.

“I’ve heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do and thus we focus on nothing in particular.

I hate peanut butter. We all should.”

After insulting the delicious and nutritious spread beloved by children across the U.S., Garlinghouse also talked about the need for change in the now clearly be-careful-for-what-you-wish-for memo.

“I believe we must embrace our problems and challenges and that we must take decisive action. We have the opportunity–in fact the invitation–to send a strong, clear and powerful message to our shareholders and Wall Street, to our advertisers and our partners, to our employees (both current and future) and to our users,” he wrote.

“They are all begging for a signal that we recognize and understand our problems, and that we are charting a course for fundamental change. Our current course and speed simply will not get us there. Short-term band-aids will not get us there.”

No, indeed, they will not, especially when the wounds are now so dangerously deep throughout Yahoo’s corporate body and the bleeding of talent seemingly unstoppable.

As BoomTown reported earlier today, well-regarded top Yahoo techie Qi Lu (pictured here) will be leaving the company, in a move to be announced today or tomorrow by the troubled Internet company.

One Yahoo insider, who characterized Lu as a “rock star” and highly regarded at the company, said the departure was a “blow” that will be devastating to the engineering organization at Yahoo (YHOO).

Our post also alluded to the precarious situation around the top four execs just under Network division head Jeff Weiner, who left last week.

Those execs are: Front Door and Network Services’ Tapan Bhat, Brad Garlinghouse, who heads Yahoo’s communications and communities arenas, Media Group head Scott Moore and Yahoo Search’s Vish Makhijani.

It looks as though the departure of Makhijani (pictured here) will also be announced today or tomorrow.

With Yahoo search just treading water and a deal to outsource some of the search-ad business to Google (GOOG), one has to wonder how Makhijani endured in the center of the storm for this long.

And while there have been reports that Garlinghouse will also leave this week–it was he who started the ball rolling with his infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto” that called for deep change at Yahoo nearly two years ago–sources tell me he is still sifting through his options, in light of a sweeping reorganization at Yahoo that he is reportedly deeply unhappy about.

That’s why it is more than likely that Garlinghouse (pictured here) will also leave–perhaps by next week–but he has not resigned or told his subordinates of any plans as yet.

But given that power is shifting dramatically to Global Partners Solutions EVP Hilary Schneider in the reorg I wrote about last night, Garlinghouse’s time at Yahoo seems limited.

As I wrote: “Many sources expect that Schneider is likely to amass more power in the new structure–she is close to [Yahoo President Sue] Decker, who must dramatically rejigger Yahoo’s top echelons to better focus the company on its stated objectives of becoming the premier ad network and a consumer ’starting point.’”

More like ending point for a lot of critical Yahoo execs, as repercussions from Yahoo’s botched handling of the Microsoft (MSFT) takeover bid ripple throughout the company.

Memo to Moore and Bhat: If this were a murder mystery, like “Ten Little Indians,” one of you better tread very, very carefully.

My special BoomTown Yahoo (YHOO) tip inbox is filling up fast this week from Yahoo employees–who, by the way, seem to like to use Gmail as their secret one–all buzzing about the next shoe to drop.

That clodhopper would be, of course, which major exec will leave the troubled Internet company, all due to a major reorg that is about the hit the company within the next weeks.

After the recent departure of Network division EVP Jeff Weiner and Chief Data Officer Usama Fayyad–along with the flashier exit of Flickr’s Co-Founders Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake (who, it should be said, have been easing quietly out the door for a while now)–several sources tell BoomTown that Search and Advertising Technology group EVP Qi Lu is the next on his way out.

Dr. Lu (pictured here), holder of 20 patents, leads development efforts around Yahoo’s Web search and monetization platforms.

But Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker should be worried about just about everyone at this point, from Connected Life EVP Marco Boerries to Platforms and Infrastructure division EVP Ash Patel to the quartet of execs under Weiner.

Any insecurity in that group—Front Door and Network Services’ Tapan Bhat, Brad Garlinghouse, who heads Yahoo’s communications and communities arenas, Media Group head Scott Moore and Yahoo Search’s Vish Makhijani–and other SVPs on that level really, are especially worrisome, as the voids above and below them become larger and offers from the outside more enticing.

So, combined with the levels of tension rising at the company dramatically with the continued external turmoil, the looming reorg has got to have them plenty worried.

Worse, Yahoos are bracing for a big one this time–sources all talk about a much more deep and profound managerial shift–rather than the deck-chair-arranging that has been typical of most Yahoo reorgs.

For those just checking into this drama, reorganizations are to Yahoo as floods are to Venice–inevitable, annoying and very unpleasant.

Still, CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker–who appears to be the main architect of the changes–do have to try to give the company’s management structure a new shape for the challenges ahead and before the Aug. 1 annual meeting.

This is critical, given everyone and anyone will want to see a clear and well-articulated strategy for Yahoo’s future from the pair by then.

(See them trying to do that at our D: All Things Digital conference last month, in a pair of videos below, when pressed on the subject by Walt Mossberg and me.)

More importantly, it has to be a plan for making the company as valuable as the $33-a-share offer from Microsoft (MSFT) that went poof after the software giant walked away from its takeover attempt in early May.

While Wall Street and major shareholders have been insisting (and hoping fervently) that Microsoft will return to buy all of Yahoo again, BoomTown is here to tell them it’s kind of like waiting for Godot.

Which has made them very frustrated. Very, very. A lot. Tons. Much.

“Jerry and Sue have no more chances to get this right,” said one major shareholder. “This is it.”

Translation: As tired as they must be by now, Yang and Decker have to pull the biggest rabbit ever out of the hat in this reorg and resetting at Yahoo.

Sources say the reorg will focus on creating more of a global product organization, because too much development of common products (like email) is being done all over the company worldwide.

In addition, many have suggested creating a more integrated relationship between products and their revenue sources.

Not having those responsible for selling ads in close sync with, for example, new content or software initiatives has produced a level of frustration within executive ranks at Yahoo.

Right now, for example, Global Partners Solutions EVP Hilary Schneider (pictured here) is in charge of all ad sales, although many other parts of Weiner’s former group rely on her efforts without reporting to her.

Many sources expect that Schneider is likely to amass more power in the new structure–she is close to Decker, who must dramatically rejigger Yahoo’s top echelons to better focus the company on its stated objectives of becoming the premier ad network and a consumer “starting point.”

Smack dab in the middle of a storm where it’s raining shoes, shoes and more shoes, of course.

Here are the two videos of Yang and Decker at D6:

Part 1

Part 2

Jeff Weiner (pictured here), as BoomTown reported in a story broken by BoomTown Tuesday and also yesterday, will be leaving Yahoo (YHOO) to become an entrepreneur in residence at both Accel Partners and Greylock Partners.

But, despite a lot of speculation on the subject by sites like TechCrunch (whose curiously petulant lifting of actual reporting done by others–in this case, BoomTown–without any attribution is fast approaching pathetic), let’s try some more actual reporting:

Sources at the company said that Weiner will not likely be replaced as Network division head by one of his four direct reports.

Those execs are: Front Door and Network Services’ Tapan Bhat, Brad Garlinghouse, who heads Yahoo’s communications and communities arenas, Media Group head Scott Moore and Yahoo Search’s Vish Makhijani.

Instead, sources at the company think much of Weiner’s organization could be headed by Hilary Schneider (pictured here), who is EVP Global Partner Solutions, in order to better align Yahoo’s ad revenue-producing units with its products, software, search and services side.

Not having those responsible for selling ads in close sync with, for example, new content or software initiatives has produced a level of frustration with executive ranks at the company.

The setup would create more of a global product organization, with more integrated sales and product development.

“It would be nice to have sales in the room now, as we develop services, instead of totally separate,” said one exec at Yahoo.

Whatever the resulting organization, Weiner’s departure gives President Sue Decker the ability to more dramatically rejigger Yahoo’s top echelons to better focus the company on its stated objectives of becoming the premier ad network and a consumer “starting point.”

Schneider is a Decker favorite, having been brought to the company from Knight Ridder in the fall of 2006, making her a much later arrival to Yahoo than Weiner, who came in 2001.

She is very well-liked by Yahoo troops and is considered a strong leader at the company.

A move to give her more responsibility would also be accompanied by allowing Weiner’s reports to have more autonomy over their units.

It could also presage a move to make Decker the CEO eventually, with Schneider as her No. 2 and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang as chairman.

Currently, the company is unlikely to make such a drastic change, especially since it is under siege in a proxy battle being waged by billionaire icon Carl Icahn.

Icahn has recently called for Yang’s ouster, in the wake of its failed takeover talks with Microsoft (MSFT), a fight that has tarnished both Yang and Decker on Wall Street and even within Yahoo ranks.

In any case, there is no timing on these moves as yet, as the company was caught unaware by Weiner’s plans, sources said, since he was on paternity leave.

Weiner had not indicated that he was considering leaving for good until recently, although many inside and outside the company had surmised that he would eventually leave after former CEO and Chairman Terry Semel did early in the year.

Weiner came to Yahoo with Semel and is a longtime protege of the former Hollywood exec.