As Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski noted in a post in March titled, “Microsoft Acquiring Yahoo One Employee at a Time”:

First, Sean Suchter, VP of search technology at Yahoo, left to become general manager of Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Search Technology Center. Then, Yahoo search scientist Qi Lu followed him, tapped as president of Microsoft’s Online Services Group. And, soon after that, Larry Heck, former VP of search & advertising sciences at Yahoo Labs, accepted a job in the R&D department of the software giant’s online services division. Now, Yahoo alum Jan Pedersen has joined them as well. Admittedly, Pedersen arrives at Microsoft by way of Amazon’s A9.com. But prior to that gig, he was chief scientist and VP, Search and Advertising Technology Group at Yahoo.

But Yahoo U.S. advertising sales head Joanne Bradford–who worked at Microsoft (MSFT) for many years–obviously knows how to play that game and has managed to grab one of the its top ad sales execs, Seth Dallaire.

Yahoo (YHOO) confirmed that Dallaire (pictured here) joined the company last week, as VP of mid-market sales, a newly-created role responsible for all mid-market sales efforts across search and display advertising.

Dallaire had been at Microsoft for seven years, most recently running its retail vertical and Midwest region. Previous to that, he ran business development partnerships at Amazon (AMZN).

Here’s a very funny video, called “Digital Media Musical Chairs,” from a Wall Street type who goes by the codename L. McDuff.

(He also did “Mad Avenue Blues” and two years of “Wall Street Meltdown,” which is also embedded below.)

It’s about the many switcheroos in recent years among the execs at the big Web outfits like Google (GOOG), Time Warner (TWX) unit AOL, Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT).

And when you look at it from a “Hollywood Squares” point of view–oh, how I desperately miss Paul Lynde–it’s kind of is amazing to realize that there are only about a dozen Internet execs moving in and out of the various jobs.

Some of the faces in the video include Greg Coleman (Yahoo/AOL), Sheryl Sandberg (Google/Facebook), Tim Armstrong (Google/AOL) and Joanne Bradford (Microsoft/Yahoo). It’s a wonder the video leaves out Scott Moore (Microsoft/Yahoo/Microsoft).

Here are the videos:

Digital Media Musical Chairs:

Mad Avenue Blues:

Wall Street Meltdown:

Wall Street Meltdown–Redux:

More musical chairs at Yahoo, which BoomTown predicted recently, as top execs at the company move in and out of jobs, and new ones from the outside move in.

Perhaps the most important change to occur is the replacement this week of SVP Scott Dietzen–who has been in charge of all communications and communities products at Yahoo (YHOO)–by former Adobe Systems (ADBE) exec Bryan Lamkin, several sources said.

Lamkin will become SVP of Applications Products.

According to his profile on LinkedIn, Lamkin (pictured here) was most recently SVP of Creative Solutions, Adobe’s largest business unit, where the software exec “led product strategy, marketing and product development for Adobe’s flagship software applications, including Photoshop, the Creative Suite, Dreamweaver, Flash and Illustrator.”

Lamkin, who was at Adobe for 14 years, has more recently been an executive-in-residence at two venture firms, New Enterprise Associates and Sutter Hill Ventures.

He will take over for Dietzen, who came to Yahoo in 2007 after its $350 million Zimbra open-source email acquisition

Dietzen–whom sources said is more entrepreneurial than managerial and did not want to lead such a big organization at the Internet giant–will become VP of strategy in the move. Many said they expect he will eventually leave Yahoo to try his hand at another start-up.

His colleague, Zimbra founder and CEO Satish Dharmaraj, left Yahoo earlier this year to join Redpoint Ventures as a VC.

In his job since, Dietzen has been busy fixing Yahoo’s mail and calendar offerings. (See my video interview with him below from last fall.)

But that’s not all.

Also afoot is a restructuring of Yahoo’s North American sales unit, with the unexpected promotion of Mitch Spolan, who was a regional sales exec and will now be in charge of all North American field sales.

The paidContent Web site reported the sales changes first, which have been rumored around Yahoo recently.

Spolan jumped over two more senior execs, sources said, who run sales operations for the East and West coasts. One of those execs, Beth Lawrence, will now run Yahoo’s relations with agencies. Both report to U.S. sales SVP Joanne Bradford.

Over the last 18 months, Yahoo has seen a bleeding of its advertising staff to a wide range of Silicon Valley Web companies, including, most recently, Yahoo’s VP of Sales Operations Dan Foehner to social-networking site Facebook.

Lastly, one of Yahoo’s most senior communications execs, Brad Williams, was let go as part of its recent round of layoffs. He had been running PR–admirably and with good cheer, I might add, despite all the bad news–since its head, Jill Nash, departed earlier this year.

Williams’s departure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal tonight. He came to Yahoo in early 2008 from eBay (EBAY).

New marketing head Elisa Steele, who was hired by CEO Carol Bartz, had recently hired a headhunting firm to find a new PR chief, sources said, and Williams was not considered as a candidate for the job.

UPDATE: Yahoo confirmed my report above.

A spokesman sent me the following info about Lamkin’s appointment:

Bryan Lamkin, formerly of Adobe, is joining Yahoo! as senior vice president of Applications Products, reporting directly to Ari Balogh. As a reminder, the Applications Products group consists of several key global products for Yahoo!, including Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Flickr, Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo! Groups and Zimbra.

Bryan brings a wealth of experience on the consumer technology front and his background ties in nicely with Yahoo!’s ongoing focus to deliver great consumer experiences across the globe.

Bryan takes over for Scott Dietzen, who was named the interim head of Application Products following the reorg back in February. Scott will continue on at Yahoo!, and will work across Yahoo!’s Applications Products in a new product strategy role.

Bio

Bryan Lamkin

Senior Vice President, Applications Product, Yahoo!

Bryan Lamkin joins Yahoo! as the senior vice president of Applications Products. In this role, he will oversee the global strategy, development and performance for key products within the Yahoo! portfolio, including Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Flickr, Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo! Groups and Zimbra.

Lamkin most recently served as senior vice president and general manager of Creative Solutions, Adobe’s largest business unit. Lamkin led product strategy, marketing and research and development for Adobe’s flagship software applications, including the Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, the Creative Suite, Dreamweaver, Flash and Illustrator.

In his 14 years at Adobe Systems, Lamkin held key management positions including Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Imaging and Video and Vice President of Marketing, Professional Publishing Solutions. Lamkin was responsible for product development and marketing as well as the acquisition and product integration strategies that established Adobe’s overwhelming leadership in digital imaging and video and web publishing. Before joining Adobe Systems, Lamkin served in key product marketing and international product development roles at Software Publishing Corporation and holds both a BA and MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.

And here is Dietzen in my video interview:

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name/It felt good to be out of the rain/In the desert you can remember your name/’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.

Actually, for Yahoo (YHOO), which is holding its big annual meeting of the company’s advertising sales staff in Indian Wells, Calif., maybe just a little pain since BoomTown is only a scant few miles away, as the crow flies, attending the Demo09 conference in Palm Desert.

Don’t worry, Yahoo PR, I will not crash the proceedings or be bribing the bartenders to get more leaks. But you Yahoos should still be careful with the wine in the hot tub anyway–as Carol says, loose lips sink ships!

The gathering–to which Yahoos were greeted at Palm Springs Airport by purple Yahoo-capped greeters and were ferried to the Marriott’s Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa via limos, according to many Demo attendees who ran right into the phalanx–is being run by Yahoo sales head Joanne Bradford.

Bradford has the unenviable task of selling into the weak ad market and driving sales, despite a very troubled economy and a company trying to claw its way back to stability. And, of course, getting Yahoo’s much buffeted sales staff jazzed up to do so.

Bradford will be helped in inspiring Yahoo’s large sales staff with what is sure to be a cussing-good appearance by CEO Carol Bartz.

Just last week, Bartz announced a massive reorganization of the company’s management to streamline it and make decision-making quicker.

“She thinks it critical she be there to get the troops excited,” said a Yahoo in the know.

Ye-haw!

How much do I wish I were there to see that performance? Much! (Except for the part in which I would be thrown out on my keester by Bartz herself, despite my plan to disguise myself by wearing all the Yahoo swag I have collected over the years.)

Instead, I am riveted to the goings on here at Demo. Right now, for example, I am watching an it’s-always-darkest-before-the-dawn session with venture investors on the dire economic situation, and about to see a new “touch book” computer.

Video of that and more, of course, to come.

“It’s being changed every minute,” joked one Yahoo source about the reorg now in process at Yahoo, which is being shepherded by new CEO Carol Bartz.

Actually, it’s kind of true, as execs at the troubled Web company are being moved around the board like chess pieces, while other players are added.

According to numerous sources, mostly in Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, Calif. HQ, things are still in flux and not completely settled as yet.

But one thing is clear: Layers are being collapsed quickly, as fewer people are in charge of more, with all roads leading to Bartz.

Here’s the current lay of the land, in what is fast becoming Carol Country at Yahoo (YHOO):

Ari, Ari, Ari!

As BoomTown reported earlier this week, it looks like CTO Ari Balogh will be the biggest winner in the management restructuring, getting to ride herd over the entire product organization, both development and technology.

Most interesting is that Audience Product head and longtime Yahoo veteran Ash Patel is still staying–at this point at least–and report to Balogh (Patel had previously reported directly to outgoing President Sue Decker).

Many at Yahoo think Patel will eventually leave, even if he is not out in the current set-up.

But, if he stays, Patel will apparently focus more on product architecture, if he does remain, which is kind of the purview of Venkat Panchapakesan, EVP of the Audience Technology Group, who already reports to Balogh.

Superman exec Ari will surely sort it all out!

In this scenario, Front Doors head Tapan Bhat could get more product development responsibility, especially since media product development is being moved centrally under Patel.

Hilary Gets More Stuff

As someone perceived internally as a favorite of Decker, U.S. head Hilary Schneider seems to be scoring anyway.

She’ll run a new U.S. division, with media head Jeff Dossett under her, as well as advertising sales head Joanne Bradford.

Some Yahoos, though, think Bradford could report directly to Bartz, given her purview is the most important part of Yahoo’s business.

Schneider will also apparently get a much diminished Connected Life unit, which focuses on mobile and other devices, after the departure of its longtime head Marco Boerries.

I posted news of his leaving earlier today, which now means that part of Yahoo will not stand on its own as a separate fiefdom.

Who Is Joel Jones?

Indeed. Yahoo’s current VP of corporate strategy and former McKinsey consultant, Joel Jones (pictured here), is one of the nominees to be tapped to be Bartz’s chief of staff.

In the new, more centralized organization that Bartz is obviously creating, that will be much more than a bag-carrying role, to be sure.

“Joel is as sharp as they come,” said one former Yahoo. Sharp enough to help Bartz negotiate with Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer?

No news on a possibly COO for Bartz, but she is getting a chief marketing officer to head up the brand and PR functions. Many are suggesting an exec like Pepsi-Cola North America interactive marketing exec John Vail, as I have previously reported, although Yahoo brand exec Allen Olivo is the internal candidate.

Also apparently staying for now is another Decker favorite, CFO Blake Jorgensen.

More to come!

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.”

How much does BoomTown love the Friday weekly memos that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz sends out to the troops?

Very, very much since they are so full of significant news–a slowdown of Yahoo’s homepage redesign and a major limiting of the global rollout of its new advertising platform, APT, to name a few.

But they also have a weird but compelling kind of energy that nearly jumps off the page, giving clear insight into how Bartz thinks and operates.

Like the Energizer Bunny, I would say.

Here are two memos Bartz sent out to Yahoo (YHOO) staff, one from today and one from last week on Feb. 13, both of which discuss just how busy she is keeping herself.

This past week, for example, Bartz spent the weekend with advertisers and partners at the AT&T golf tournament in Pebble Beach, after which she threw some serious love in the direction of U.S. sales head Joanne Bradford and gave the advertising minions under her an A+.

Bartz also cheerily admits with a “whatever” that a “Brand Pride Memo,” which a Yahoo marketing exec asked her to rename in case it leaked–oops!–from last week (see below), was still a list of Yahoo embarrassments.

And she is headed to Europe in April, followed by Asia TBD, although this weekend, a husband-free Bartz is catching up on chick flicks–might I suggest, “He’s Just Not That Into You”–and resting up for the “big week” ahead.

That’s Bartz’s coy term for her massive reorganization of management, which is slated, many sources tell me, to be announced Wednesday. (See my post on that here.)

Last week, was much more newsworthy, as Bartz did a lot of business unit and product reviews–reportedly scaring the bejeesus out of staff who had to present–because, she said, they had not been done in a dog’s age at Yahoo.

Stressing a “need for speed” in the decision-making process at Yahoo and a “WOW” experience for users, Bartz seems to be whirling through Yahoo like Mr. Clean’s white tornado.

As BoomTown reported this week (correctly, Tapan!), for example, Metro–the Yahoo homepage redo–was delayed by her “until we feel it will be a great product for our users.”

Bartz then said she had decreed that ads were to be taken out of mail products in emerging markets, which will mean a drop in revenue (probably minuscule), but make for a better customer experience.

Most significantly, she also limited the global rollout of APT, Yahoo’s new advertising system, which was much touted by previous Yahoo management, to just the U.S. and one other country in order to “perfect” it.

This is a polite way of saying it is buggier than an Amazon jungle.

And, my favorite and hers: Bartz wrote that “we are assembling a list of products that we are embarrassed about for various reasons so we can make the important decision as to whether we fix them or discontinue them.”

Speaking of curdling, and to keep up the kooky quotient, Bartz also thanked Texas Yahoos for something called “Purple Cowboy wine,” as well as employees in Oshkosh, Wis., for cheese curds.

Then, it was off to make Valentines with her ubiquitous assistant, Judy Flores, after which she was set to do some major kissing up to ad customers at that golf tournament (not her strong suit, apparently, as it had been former Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang’s).

But, experience the full-Carol yourself in the two entire memos below:

February 20:

My week started last Friday down at the AT&T golf tournament where we hosted many of our important U.S. customers and partners. I thought I’d use this week’s note to give you some impressions:

First, I really want to congratulate Joanne Bradford’s team for hosting and running a first-class event. I know many of you in the company have absolutely no idea what happens in our regions or what salespeople do for a living (in fact, my past history has shown me that the way most engineers perceive salespeople is as lightweight, backslapping meeters and greeters). In fact, I’m delighted to report that Yahoo! has an A+ sales team. I watched them in action with customers such as Pepsi–it was clear they had the respect and trust of the customer and represented all of us Yahoos very well. It was very interesting to learn how creative our salespeople are in helping our clients devise interesting and profitable campaigns. I received a lot of compliments about how well-supported these customers and partners felt. Likewise, it was very clear to me that they support Yahoo! in return and very much want us to succeed.

Hey, that doesn’t mean they think we’re perfect! They had several ideas about our products and how we could do better, especially in this tough economic environment. This plays right into our focus on excellence and great products.

Last week I told you we were going to have our first pass at deciding which products embarrass us as a company. Kudos to Allen Olivo and his team for worrying that one of you might leak my email, so instead he called it the “Brand Pride List.” Whatever, the point is still important and we had a great discussion on which products to stop and which to make a lot better. More to follow…

I realize this is a very U.S.-centric message but that’s because I spent three days with U.S. customers. Just wait until I blow through Europe in April–I’ll be sharing all sorts of European goodies with you! And yes, I am going to Asia as well–we just haven’t settled on the date yet.

My husband is out of town this weekend, so I’m looking forward to watching all the “chick flicks” that he refuses to watch with me. I hope you all have a fun weekend. Get well-rested, because next week’s a biggie.

Carol

February 13:

A great illustration of my need for speed.

Had a big staff meeting this week. We spent all day Monday and Tuesday reviewing our strategies and major products on both the audience and advertising sides. It was a great introduction for me and even an eye-opener for the entire team when they realized that many of these strategies and products hadn’t been delved into in a long time (a big thanks to all the presenters who worked so hard):

· We talked a lot about the importance of having a WOW experience for all of our users around the world. As an example, we are delaying the launch of Metro until we feel it will be a great product for our users.

· Similarly, we discovered that we are losing mail share to the competition in many slower-bandwidth, emerging markets so we have made a decision to remove mail ads in those countries to improve the user experience. This will mean a drop in revenue for us but it’s the right thing to do strategically.

· We have also decided to “perfect” APT! in the US and only one international market before we roll it out globally.

· And finally, my favorite–we are assembling a list of products that we are embarrassed about for various reasons so we can make the important decision as to whether we fix them or discontinue them.

What does this have to do with the need for speed? Many of the things I just talked about could have and should have been decided earlier but we haven’t been an organization that has embraced the need for speedy decisions, even when they are the tough ones. We can all be part of changing this and getting back to an organization that is fast on its feet.

On a personal note, thanks to Team Texas Sales for the Purple Cowboy wine and the Care Center Service Desk in Oshkosh for the Wisconsin bag of goodies–my favorite were the cheese curds!

Judy and I went to URLs today and made Valentine’s for our sweeties–everybody remember yours so we can all have a big Yahoo! Valentine’s Day. I’m off to Pebble Beach tomorrow to meet, entertain and play golf with some of our biggest customers. Actually, it’s a great strategy because normally you have to “let” the customer win–fortunately, this is not a problem for me!

Carol

Yahoo–which has stuck to its guns by staying in the search business, even though many think it is a losing game and should be sold off to Microsoft–has lost a key engineer in that arena to, uh-oh, Microsoft.

Sean Suchter, the VP of Search Technology at Yahoo, was also deeply involved in Yahoo’s efforts to open up its search platform, initiatives the company has touted aggressively as a bright spot in its not-so-lustrous landscape.

The departure of Suchter–who came to Yahoo (YHOO) almost six years ago after it acquired Inktomi (the company that got Yahoo into the search business) in early 2003–has been in the works for a while and was not linked to this week’s announcement that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang will be stepping down.

Yahoo confirmed Suchter’s departure, but Microsoft (MSFT) has not yet announced his arrival there.

[UPDATED: Microsoft has now officially announced that Suchter is coming to the company.]

But sources said it will be in late December, with Suchter will be working in search for Satya Nadella, the SVP who heads engineering for Microsoft’s search, portal and advertising platform group.

Sources at Microsoft had told me of that they were close to locking down this impressive get several weeks ago. “If we can get someone like Sean, it says a lot,” said one source.

Indeed, Suchter has been an important tech leader at Yahoo, much as Qi Lu–the well-regarded Search and Advertising Technology group EVP, who left earlier this year–was.

In his LinkedIn profile, Suchter noted about his duties at Yahoo:

“I run Yahoo’s Web search engine, with overall responsibility for its success. This includes engineering, product responsibility, operational stability, results quality, capex spending and revenue (from the paid inclusion program).”

There are big questions, now that Yang is stepping down, whether Yahoo will stay in the search business or sell it off. Yang has been a big proponent of doubling down in search, considering it integral to the entire Yahoo ecosystem.

But others make the very persuasive argument that Yahoo will be increasingly outspent by both Google (GOOG) and Microsoft, in what is turning into a very vicious and expensive arms race.

If it sold off its No. 2 search business to Microsoft–ironically, Yahoo used to deliver Microsoft’s search results–many think it could have huge costs savings and garner guaranteed revenues.

News of Suchter’s departure, including the internal Yahoo memo announcing it, appeared in Valleywag this morning, which speculated that Suchter was headed to Microsoft.

In the memo, Tuoc Luong, Yahoo’s SVP of Search, stated the very obvious about Suchter’s departure:

“Unfortunately, I have to give some bad news to you. Sean Suchter has resigned. Sean’s last day will be December 19th.

Some of you will find this news shocking given that Sean has been a Gibraltar rock at Yahoo and in particular for the Search team. I understand this.”

Interestingly, Yahoo has recently nabbed several of former Microsoft execs, including U.S. ad head Joanne Bradford and U.S. Audience SVP Jeff Dossett.

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

[Photo from Flickr stream of WebProNews.]

Here’s my favorite quote from former Microsoft exec Jeff Dossett from a phone interview he gave to BoomTown this afternoon, after his appointment as Yahoo’s new U.S. Audience head:

“Where others see risk, I see opportunity,” said the man who has climbed Mount Everest twice. “We have this great Web asset … and, from here on out, it is all about execution.”

(Speaking of which, the photo above of Dossett is on the summit of Everest, taken by one of his TEAM INSPIRED climbing partners, David Morton, on May 22, 2008.)

You can tell from the gumption in this ain’t-no-mountain-high-enough sentiment that Dossett just got to Yahoo (YHOO) and sees a challenge at the troubled Internet giant where others see, well, a long-running quagmire.

I like him already!

“If you take a look at it, Yahoo has so many incredible assets,” said Dossett, who is replacing Yahoo Media Group SVP Scott Moore, whose departure from Yahoo was reported here first today. “There is an unparalleled level of audience to build on.”

You won’t get an argument from me on that obvious fact, because amazing content and communications assets have always been Yahoo’s crown jewels.

It’s the management–or lack thereof–of its products and staff by Yahoo’s leadership and board that’s been the problem.

So it is probably a good idea that Yahoo has brought in new blood to shake things up more. Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has been looking outside the company of late to recruit outside talent.

Dossett was one of these execs, as I had written a month ago in a post titled “The Secret Microsoft Invasion of Yahoo Continues: MSN GM Headed There Soon?”

With its stock in the perpetual doldrums, the graphical advertising business outlook glum and a lucrative search ad deal with Google (GOOG) trapped in a Justice Department lockbox, the company could use someone to rattle its cages.

In the interview, Dossett (pictured here) acknowledged that he had been speaking to Yahoo U.S. head Hilary Schneider about a range of jobs related to business development. But when Moore told Schneider he was leaving, “We both thought I might be able to play a larger role.”

Dossett said that he hoped to be able to continue to keep Yahoo the No.1 or No. 2 content destination over a range of categories and also push forward more integration with Yahoo technology offerings such as email, calendar and others popular consumer tools the company has.

“There is a tremendous need to integrate … to create the largest and most engaged online audience,” he said. “It all still needs to be stitched together.”

Well, it has not exactly been a very successful quilting bee as yet. Yahoo has continued to struggle to make a more seamless offering to meet the changing needs of consumers, many of whom have been moving more toward more integrated social-networking experiences like those offered by Facebook.

“There is so much more we can do,” said Dossett. “We have only really scratched the surface to combine what we have.”

Dossett, who said his departure from Microsoft (MSFT) was cordial, would not comment on what a combination of Yahoo with the assets of Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL would look like though.

Yahoo and AOL have been engaged in long-running talks about a merger, a new company in which Dossett would now play a large role, if a deal was ever to be struck.

It will be a big challenge that will surely test Dossett, a longtime and experienced mountain climber, who has spent much of his career at Microsoft.

That includes during the period over the last year in which the software giant was trying to take over Yahoo without being too polite about it.

In his job at MSN, Dossett was the lead for audience, content and programming strategy and execution in the U.S.

He had worked at Microsoft since 1991, in a variety of sales and marketing jobs in Canada, and later worked on strategy and business development for MSN.

Dossett was also CEO of Carpoint, now MSN Autos, and was GM of its real estate arm.

At Yahoo, he joins another former Microsoft big shot and close colleague, Joanne Bradford, who started her job as Yahoo’s top U.S. ad sales exec last month.

Dossett also took two years off from Microsoft in 2002 to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, finally reaching the summit of Everest in May of 2004.

Dossett reached the summit again for a second time this past May.

Somehow, I think he will find the air at Yahoo just as thin.

About a month ago, BoomTown reported that MSN executive producer and general manager Jeff Dossett (pictured here) was contemplating joining Yahoo.

Microsoft (MSFT) released a statement that day saying Dossett was indeed stepping down from his MSN duties, as I had posted, but noted that he was staying put at the software giant.

Oops, it looks like I was right in my initial report: “The Secret Microsoft Invasion of Yahoo Continues: MSN GM Headed There Soon?”

Dossett has accepted a job as SVP, U.S. Audience at Yahoo, Yahoo (YHOO) said in a press release this afternoon.

“I am very excited about this new leadership opportunity at Yahoo,” wrote Dossett in an email to me. “Of course, I have great respect for my many friends and colleagues at Microsoft and I wish them well.”

But is the hire linked to my report earlier today of Yahoo Media Group SVP Scott Moore leaving?

You betcha, as Governor Sarah Palin says.

While the company had already been deep in conversations with Dossett for another job, as head of business development, management scrambled after Moore reportedly told Yahoo of his plans to leave a week ago.

After BoomTown this morning reported that Moore, as well as Yahoo News general manager Alan Warms, were departing later this week, Yahoo confirmed the departures this afternoon.

Dossett will report to Hilary Schneider, executive vice president of Yahoo U.S., and fill the role previously held by Moore, although the title is different. Yahoo said Moore was leaving “to pursue other opportunities.”

A Yahoo spokesman also said later about Warms:

“We’ve worked with Alan over the last couple of months on an orderly transition plan of his responsibilities over to Neeraj Khemlani, who will continue to lead Programming & Development for News & Information at Yahoo. We wish Alan much success in his future endeavors and know that Neeraj will continue driving Yahoo News to even greater success.”

Dossett will have presumably have purview over all that and more.

A longtime and experienced mountain climber, he has been one of the more senior digital execs at Microsoft.

The reason given for Dossett’s departure from Microsoft, announced internally in mid-September, was to also “pursue other opportunities” (I still love this phrase, as oily as it is.)

As I wrote then: “While the hire is not yet complete, that apparently means that he is likely going to rival and onetime Microsoft quarry Yahoo as a senior exec.”

It has all been an interesting digital-musical-chair trend, in fact. Also last month, another former Microsoft big shot, Joanne Bradford, started her job as Yahoo’s top U.S. ad sales exec.

Bradford came to Yahoo after a very short stint as national ad sales head at the trendy Los Angeles start-up, Spot Runner.

Previous to that, Bradford (pictured here) had been at Microsoft for many years, most recently as VP and chief media officer of MSN Media Network.

While at Microsoft, Jeff Dossett was a close colleague of Bradford, so his moving to Yahoo is probably not that much of a surprise.

Outgoing Yahoo Media Group SVP Moore, who has been at Yahoo since 2005, is another former Microsoft digital exec, where he worked all over the company.

In his job at MSN, Dossett was the lead for audience, content and programming strategy and execution in the U.S.

He had worked at the company since 1991, in a variety of sales and marketing jobs in Canada, and later worked on strategy and business development for MSN.

Dossett was also CEO of Carpoint, now MSN Autos, and was GM of its real estate arm.

He also took two years off from Microsoft in 2002 to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, finally reaching the summit of Mount Everest in May of 2004.

Dossett reached the summit of Everest again for a second time this past May.

Here is Yahoo’s press release about his appointment in its entirety:

JEFF DOSSETT JOINS YAHOO! TO LEAD US AUDIENCE BUSINESSES

In 2002, Dossett took two years away from his career at Microsoft to pursue his passion for adventure with a goal to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, known as the “Seven Summits.” Reaching the summit of Mount Everest on May 24, 2004, Dossett became the third Canadian in history to successfully complete the Seven Summits. On May 22nd, 2008, Jeff became the second Canadian in history to reach the summit Mount Everest for the second time. He serves on the Board of Advisors of VillageReach (www.villagereach.org), GOOD Worldwide Inc. (www.good.is), and Live Mocha (www.livemocha.com). Dossett holds a degree in business administration with honors from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

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.

To be fair, the whole market was dragged down today due to worries about a deepening recession. But Yahoo’s ever-decreasing share price has got to have the company and its investors mighty worried.

Hitting lows not seen since the dot-com doldrums of 2001 and 2002, Yahoo closed at $15.58–down $1.38 or 8.14 percent–giving the troubled Internet giant a market cap of just $22.08 billion.

That is almost exactly half of what Yahoo leadership could have gotten if the company had accepted a takeover offer made by Microsoft at the beginning of February.

Nonetheless, even at these bargain-basement prices, sources at the software giant said that Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer has declared repeatedly at internal gatherings recently that he is not going to make another offer for Yahoo (YHOO) no matter how low it goes.

This seems a little stubborn to BoomTown–a kind of taking-my-marbles-and-going-home attitude–especially given Yahoo still has one of the most highly trafficked sites on the Web and some of its best-known products and services, as well as being the No. 2 player in search.

And Ballmer might well be bluffing, of course. After all, a bargain is a bargain.

Nonetheless, it underscores the reality that Yahoo is probably truly on its own now and must sink or swim on the initiatives and leadership of CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker.

As I have written repeatedly, the pair has increasingly less time to act and must show perceptible improvements in results.

As at most Web companies, most analysts agree the third quarter is probably not a disaster for Yahoo. Instead, all eyes are on the fourth quarter, which is going to be most definitely impacted by the current economic slowdown.

Yahoo has recently hired a former Microsoft exec–Joanne Bradford–to lead its advertising efforts in the key U.S. market. And, while she is well regarded on Madison Avenue, Bradford has her work cut out of her, especially in the hard-hit online display advertising business.

Yahoo also is on pins and needles to see if the Justice Department will try to put the kibosh on its search ad outsourcing deal with Google (GOOG).

Yahoo is hoping to get a big boost in revenue from the partnership, which has many critics. In the current economic environment, the government might be loath to slap down any sign of financial activity, but the uncertainty is not good for Yahoo.

Yahoo’s declining stock price is also sure to impact its talks with Time Warner (TWX) over acquiring its AOL unit. Yahoo does not want to pay anywhere near the $10 billion that the media giant had previously floated as its price for the once-mighty, now-beleaguered AOL.

But Yahoo’s declining market value means it is likely to be able to pony up less and less.

With continuing rumors of layoffs, which I posted about two weeks ago, doing more with less is going to be business as usual at Yahoo, it seems.

And, in fact, heads of various business units at Yahoo have been given marching orders to cut costs, which are quite substantial.

“We might not make all the cuts requested,” said one exec. “But it is going to hurt.”

A longtime and experienced mountain climber, Dossett (pictured here) has been one of the more senior digital execs at Microsoft.

The reason given for Dossett’s departure from Microsoft (MSFT), announced internally this afternoon, was to “pursue other opportunities.”

While the hire is not yet complete, that apparently means that he is likely going to rival and onetime Microsoft quarry Yahoo as a senior exec.

It is an interesting digital-musical-chair trend, in fact. On Monday, another former Microsoft big shot, Joanne Bradford, will start her job as Yahoo’s top U.S. sales exec.

Bradford came to Yahoo (YHOO) after a very short stint as national sales head at the trendy Los Angeles start-up, Spot Runner.

Previous to that, Bradford (pictured here) had been at Microsoft for many years, most recently as VP and chief media officer of MSN Media Network.

While at Microsoft, Jeff Dossett was a close colleague of Bradford, so his moving to Yahoo would not be that much of a surprise.

But one has to wonder what other Microsoft execs Bradford can entice to come to Yahoo, especially given that CEO Jerry Yang is reportedly interested in aggressively beefing up his executive ranks after more than a year of employee attrition due to all the turmoil at the company.

Current Yahoo Media Group SVP Scott Moore, who has been at Yahoo for several years now, is another former Microsoft digital exec.

What Dossett would do if he takes a job at Yahoo is unclear.

But, in his job at MSN, Dossett was the lead for audience, content and programming strategy and execution in the U.S.

He has worked at the company since 1991, in a variety of sales and marketing jobs in Canada, and later worked on strategy and business development for MSN.

Dossett was also CEO of Carpoint, now MSN Autos, and was GM of its real estate arm.

He also took two years off from Microsoft in 2002 to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, finally reaching the summit of Mount Everest in May of 2004.

Dossett reached the summit of Everest again for a second time this past May.

While the pair (pictured here, Schneider on the left and Bradford on the right) would not give specifics about how Bradford was hired, they both noted that they had gotten to know each other over the past year.

And Bradford added that she had met Yahoo (YHOO) President Sue Decker at a poker table several years ago while attending a women’s executive conference run by Fortune magazine.

“I won,” said Bradford proudly. “I beat her and everyone else [at the table].”

How much does BoomTown like a person who insults her uber-boss’s card-playing skills before she even starts?

Very much!

Actually, sharp gambling skills and a little in-your-face style are probably just what Yahoo needs, as the U.S. economy continues to tank and the company tries to recover from the Microsoft (MSFT) takeover debacle.

Combined with management drift and employee turmoil over the last year, Yahoo’s ad business has suffered accordingly.

“I had a laser-like focus on bringing in Joanne,” said Schneider, who said she always asks ad clients who most impacts their online strategy and Bradford’s name kept popping up. “There was a kinetic energy that made it a good fit.”

Bradford is taking over the job of Dave Karnstedt, who is headed to Silicon Valley VC firm Redpoint Ventures as an executive-in-residence. His departure has been long rumored internally.

According to sources, Bradford was unhappy at Spot Runner, the ad-services start-up that has received truckloads of funding, and even more attention when Bradford arrived.

Whatever the case, the former Microsoft exec left her job as national ad sales chief at Spot Runner, where she arrived just six months ago, to take the position of SVP of U.S. revenue and development at Yahoo.

Bradford will oversee sales, market development for advertisers, small business and HotJobs at Yahoo. She will report to Schneider, who is EVP of Yahoo’s U.S unit.

It will be a very tough gig. Yahoo is facing that soft U.S. economy, a weakened stock price after the takeover attempt by Microsoft and justifiable questions among advertisers about its effectiveness, as other sites like Facebook grow faster and with more attractive demographics.

Yahoo is likely to also have to deal with new regulatory scrutiny of its ad businesses, since it was reported yesterday that the Justice Department might block the deal Yahoo recently struck to outsource some of its ad sales to Google (GOOG).

Bradford insisted that Yahoo was still a major force, underscoring that for all its troubles, the company remains one of the top online ad sellers: “My approach has always been about giving advertisers the product they want. … Yahoo has a lot of assets for me to play with.”

Schneider added that the job Bradford has is larger than Karnstedt’s, in order to be able to offer ad clients as many different kinds of Yahoo ad product as possible in an integrated solution.

“It is a different role in that it aggregates all of ad revenue … and touches teams in all of our ad businesses,” said Schneider, who noted Bradford’s job does not include its overseeing its publishing relationships, including a controversial recent deal with Google. “It’s the whole magillah.”

And Bradford knows from gorillas. Previous to Spot Runner, she was a VP and chief media officer of MSN Media Network and has worked at the software giant for a long time.

At Yahoo, where she will start in two weeks, she will not be the only former Microsoft exec–content head Scott Moore, who also reports to Schneider, was a longtime exec there.

It’s a sneaky kind of Microsoft invasion, if you think about it.

Bradford, who left Microsoft right after it made the now-failed bid for Yahoo, said she looks forward to wrangling with her former company in the ad market, especially now that Yahoo has to carve out new roads following its decision to resist.

“Everyone needs good competition, and it will be fun to compete [with Microsoft],” said Bradford. “I think Yahoo is at an interesting point of changing and growing its businesses … but it is still in a leadership position and there is a story to be told around that.”

The departure of Dave Karnstedt, who took over last year when longtime Yahoo ad sales exec Wenda Millard left Yahoo in the first of many controversial partings, has been long rumored internally.

(In fact, I have driven one of Yahoo’s PR people crazy in recent months trying to verify a persistent tip I had been getting that he was headed out the door.)

Karnstedt will be joining Redpoint Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture firm, as an executive-in-residence.

And, in a rejiggering and addition of duties at Yahoo (YHOO), Karnstedt’s job and more is going to Joanne Bradford (pictured here), a longtime and well-known Microsoft (MSFT) exec who decamped from the software giant to helm national ad sales at trendy ad services start-up Spot Runner just six months ago.

There have been rumors swirling that Bradford was unhappy at the smaller company after working at the giant Microsoft.

She was EVP of National Marketing Services, focused on national advertisers, for Spot Runner, joining in a high-profile move in March. Previous to Spot Runner, Bradford was a VP and chief media officer of MSN Media Network, and had worked at BusinessWeek before that.

In any case, the move will be seen as a blow to Spot Runner, which recently did some unusual layoffs, despite receiving a large slug of cash from investors.

(Here is a post and video I did on a recent trip to Spot Runner, including an interview with its CEO Nick Grouf.)

“I am going back to my entrepreneurial, build-something roots,” Bradford told me at the time she joined Spot Runner. “There is such inefficiency in buying and selling of advertising and someone has to solve that, both for big companies and small ones.”

Well, welcome to Yahoo, Joanne, which could use a little efficiency in its buying and selling of ad sales!

Seriously, Bradford will now will take over as SVP of U.S. revenue and market development at Yahoo at a very dicey time.

Besides facing a withering U.S. economy, a weakened stock price after the takeover attempt by Microsoft and ensuing mess related to it, it was revealed that the Justice Department might block the deal Yahoo recently struck to outsource some of its ad sales to Google (GOOG).

Yahoo said that in this newly created role Bradford will oversee sales, market development for advertisers, small business and HotJobs. She will report to Hilary Schneider, EVP of Yahoo’s U.S unit.

Karnstedt, whom I interviewed when he first took over ad sales a little more than a year ago, is leaving to pursue other opportunities.

In Silicon Valley, that means the inevitable stop at a VC firm. Hence, Redpoint!

Interestingly, he joins former Ask.com head Jim Lanzone at Redpoint, while former Yahoo execs Jeff Weiner (Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital) and David Goldberg (Benchmark) also landed cushy EIR gigs after leaving Yahoo.

Karnstedt had been SVP of U.S. sales at Yahoo and had apparently resigned from the company earlier this summer (thanks for not confirming that when I asked so many times, Yahoo!)

With Yahoo seven years, he was charged with the difficult task of integrating Yahoo’s search, display, Blue Lithium and Right Media sales teams.

And while Karnstedt was well liked, many complained that the longtime online ad techie was not enough of a gregarious and schmoozy ad sales exec, with deep relationships on Madison Avenue, as Millard–and Bradford–surely are.

As I wrote in Aug. 2007, after an interview with him at Yahoo’s New York offices:

I made the point to Dave (he is the kind of guy you can call Dave, as you can see pictured here) that an ad guy needs to sell himself, but to no avail, so we press on in text. Nonetheless, let me set the visual scene:

Nicest guy you ever want to meet walks into nondescript room, wearing khaki-oxford-jacket Internet uniform 101. Declares Yahoo is going to kick some advertising butt in the nicest possible way. It is revealed this nice guy has been around the Web block for quite a while. Much chitter-chatter ensues. Cut to my clear-as-Fiji-water observation that nice guy, as nice as he is, has his work cut out for him.”

And now, more than ever in Yahoo’s key ad market, so does Bradford.