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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Softie Ad Exec Siebrecht to Join AdReady Start-Up

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Apparently, not everyone leaves Yahoo to join Microsoft.

On Friday, sources said, it was announced internally at Microsoft that Karl Siebrecht, the former president of Atlas at aQuantive, is joining AdReady at the end of the month as president and COO.

AdReady, based in Seattle, bills itself as an “advertising technology company focused on making online display advertising accessible and effective for advertisers of all sizes.”

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Media Link’s Michael Kassan (in NYC) and Wenda Millard (From a Boat Somewhere Near Slovenia) Speak About Their New MySpace Gig!

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Wenda Harris Millard–calling in to BoomTown HQ from a cruise either on the way to or the way from Slovenia, since she said she was not exactly sure, given that it was the middle of the night there–wanted to make one thing clear:

She is still working for her other dozens of clients at Media Link as its president, but also has a big new gig helping MySpace get its advertising sales house in order, especially related to strategy and execution.

“I guess it’s a matter of semantics, but I will be leading the engagement,” said Millard. “But we have a whole team here too, and I am also still working for all our great clients.”

Okay, people?!? Which is, in Slovenian, in case anyone asks there, Wenda: Vidirati narod?

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MySpace to Hire Media Link (and Millard) to Fix Ad Sales; Berman Out

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In a move that will surely have Madison Avenue talking, well-known online advertising sales executive Wenda Harris Millard–who is now president of New York- and Los Angeles-based media consultancy Media Link–is poised to take over all advertising sales at MySpace, sources said.

But, in an unusual twist, the former Yahoo and Martha Stewart exec will remain in her job at Media Link, which has also been hired by MySpace to advise on restructuring the social networking company’s salesforce.

Current President of Sales and Marketing Jeff Berman will be leaving the company, MySpace has told employees via an internal memo.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Exclusive: Platform-A Head Coleman Out at AOL, as Well as CFO (and More to Come?)

Platform-A President Greg Coleman–the former Yahoo advertising sales exec who came to AOL only three months ago–is leaving the company, sources said, as new CEO Tim Armstrong remakes his top staff in preparation to spin off the Time Warner online unit.

Coleman was brought to AOL by former CEO Randy Falco in February, replacing Lynda Clarizio, and will be replaced by a Google ad exec, Jeff Levick.

Armstrong, sources said, announced the moves to his staff tonight, right after he told Coleman about his decision late today.

Also out: CFO Nisha Kumar, who came to AOL in early 2007 from Time Warner, owner of the online unit.

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Google Names Company Veteran Dennis Woodside to Replace Tim Armstrong as Ad Lead

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That was fast.

Longtime–well, five years, which is a dog’s age at the search giant–Google sales exec Dennis Woodside will become VP, Americas Operations, replacing outgoing exec Tim Armstrong, who was named chairman and CEO of Time Warner online unit AOL last week.

Woodside will start in the next few weeks, said Google in an internal communication about the appointment, as Armstrong transitions from Google to AOL.

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Friday, December 5, 2008

Yahoo CEO Countdown, 26 Days to Go: As Chernin Declines, Will a Dark Horse Emerge?

With Yahoo board Chairman Roy Bostock reportedly assuring investors and others that the company will have a CEO in place by the end of the year, it seems prudent for BoomTown to initiate an official Yahoo CEO Countdown.

After all, this column had a 100-Day No-Sacred-Cows Vision Quest to mark the time that Jerry Yang said he needed to give Yahoo a top-to-bottom look-see when he took over last summer as CEO.

So here’s today’s update: No Peter Chernin and a lot of thorny issues for other candidates.

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Yahoo Board Casts About for New CEO: No Committee, Six Criteria and AOL Merger-Ready!

Now let’s return from the land of fatuous deal schemes and half-baked plots to buy Yahoo and get to the most critical issue facing its board right now: Finding a new CEO to replace outgoing leader Jerry Yang.

Sources tell BoomTown that board Chairman Roy Bostock has been asserting a new CEO will be named by the new year.

Only 28 more shopping days until management clarity!

Well, maybe not so much, given there is no formal search committee. But there is a list and a pending AOL deal, so let’s hope for a miracle on 701 First Avenue in Sunnyvale!

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Friday, November 28, 2008

As Carl Icahn Buys More Yahoo Shares, Is It the Sign That a CEO Choice Is Near?

When everyone else has been selling, it seems Carl Icahn has decided to throw good money after bad–as in nearly $1 billion bad–by buying almost seven million more Yahoo shares, according to a regulatory filing.

Why is he doing it? BoomTown is guessing that the billionaire investor thinks he can recoup some of his massive losses in Yahoo, as Jerry Yang prepares to step down and the board, on which Icahn sits, names a new leader.

That’s why my guess is that the choice of a new CEO is likely to be sooner than later, much more Icahn-friendly and strong on operational skills.

BoomTown’s new guesses: Yahoo board member John Chapple or perhaps an ops star like HP’s Todd Bradley.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

More CEO Choices for Yahoo: Freston, Jordan, Bonnie and Two Rosenblatts!

BoomTown might have been remiss in my post yesterday on top candidates for the Yahoo CEO job, in the wake of news that Jerry Yang was stepping down, by leaving out several key possibilities.

Yesterday’s roster included News Corp.’s Peter Chernin, Google’s Tim Armstrong, Kevin Johnson of Juniper Networks and also two Yahoo board members, among others.

So here is an addendum to my initial list–all of whom are Yahoo outsiders, the likely choice versus more tarnished insiders.

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Friday, August 1, 2008

Liveblogging From Yahoo Annual Meeting: Shareholder Q&A!

OK, now we’re cooking with gas at Yahoo’s annual meeting in San Jose, as various shareholders–mostly small ones–come to the microphones and give Yahoo a piece of their mind.

First up, longtime Yahoo activist shareholder Eric Jackson asked Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock to step down, noted that Yahoo had overplayed its hand on the Microsoft bid, wondered about Yahoo President Sue Decker’s time problems (too many outside boards) and questioned the worth of Yahoo’s deal to sell an asset in Japan.

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Microsoft’s Trojan Horse (Also Google’s): Display Advertising

So while all the attention is on who Microsoft is hunting next–after its latest parry at grabbing Yahoo’s search business was foiled once again–has settled on Time Warner’s AOL, as BoomTown reported Monday, it would be a mistake to assume that the software giant is not still aiming directly at Yahoo.

Why?

Because it must, and not only for the reason–to get control of its Yahoo’s #2 search business–that has been much focused on.

It’s also Yahoo’s strong display advertising business that Microsoft is clearly after.

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AlleyCorp’s Kevin Ryan Speaks!

With the sale of paidContent to the Guardian Media Group and the talks TechCrunch has been in with AOL, there certainly is a lot of hubbub around tech blogging sites of late.

One of the more interesting sites that has gone up over the last year has been Silicon Alley Insider, which is headlined by former Internet analyst Henry Blodget (yes, that Henry Blodget).

But perhaps most compelling is that the site is backed by Web 1.0 entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, former CEO of DoubleClick, who has nested SAI inside a networks of new Web efforts at AlleyCorp.

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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Wenda Harris Millard Speaks!

When I was recently in New York, I enjoyed a delicious breakfast, with a side of video interview, with Wenda Harris Millard.

She was recently named co-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (aka the House Martha Built With Her Trusty Glue Gun).

Millard went to MSLO after many years of building and running Yahoo’s ad business (previous to that stint, she worked at DoubleClick in its earliest days).

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Yahoogle?: Microsoft Will “Let Loose the Dogs of War”

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With the ad-outsourcing deal between Yahoo and Google finally announced–in a press release so parsed and careful, it makes me immediately suspect–one Microsoft source joked to me:

“Let loose the dogs of war.”

Translation: Bite me!

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Thursday, May 8, 2008

Google’s Chilly Feet?

All week, Yahoo’s investors have waited for the other shoe to drop–its much-hyped ad deal with Google, in which Yahoo would outsource some of its online search ad monetization business to the search giant.

But will that deal land with a thud instead?

Today, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google executives “are now divided over whether to pursue a search-advertising deal with Yahoo.”

Actually, that depends what you mean by divided, of course, and which Google execs are on which side.

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About Kara

Kara Swisher started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco bureau in 1997 and also wrote the BoomTown column about the sector. With Walt Mossberg, she co-produces and co-hosts D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech and media conference.

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Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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