One of Yahoo’s top marketing execs, Eric Hadley, who came to the company with a lot of acclaim in November, is set to leave for a new job in Microsoft’s MSN online service, several sources said.

Hadley had previously worked at Microsoft, although he had come to Yahoo from the CMO job at Heavy.com. At Yahoo, he was hired as its VP of U.S. field marketing.

It’s yet another sign of renewed executive unrest at Yahoo. Yesterday, BoomTown reported that Zimbra founder Satish Dharmaraj was leaving Yahoo, which was later confirmed by the company.

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In the wake of the changes at Microsoft’s online division, a senior ad sales exec, Bill Shaughnessy, is set to leave his post, the company confirmed. The departure was first reported in Ad Age, which said Shaughnessy’s future plans were undetermined and, in fact, noted it was unclear why the longtime Microsoft staffer of 15 years was leaving. Here’s why: Consolidation.

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Yahoo is losing yet another top executive–Toby Coppel, its EVP and managing director of Europe and Canada, is set to announce today that he is stepping down.

The departure, which has been in the works for months, is not related to the recent news that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is also relinquishing his job as soon as the company completes its search for another CEO.

His successor will be Rich Riley, who is currently SVP of Europe’s Advertiser & Publisher Group, which put him in charge of all revenues for the division.

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Why settle for less, when you can have the whole enchilada? Thus, here is the entire MSN rejiggering memo I wrote about earlier today.

It was penned by Greg Nelson, head of the MSN Global Media Group, who reveals in it–interestingly–that he has not yet filled the job of U.S. Executive Producer of Microsoft’s consumer online service.

Also, a note to “note taker” at the Town Hall meeting next Tuesday at Microsoft HQ to discuss the changes, who is mentioned below: You can email me those meeting notes you are apparently taking here and I promise not to tell anyone (well, to tell you the truth, I will tell everyone).

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Here’s part of an internal memo BoomTown obtained about some small, but interesting, changes at Microsoft’s MSN unit, sent out by the GM of its Global Media Group, Greg Nelson, which is under the leadership of–well, frankly–a confusing panoply of people.

That’s why I have been haranguing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a little digital clarity, especially around its consumer digital businesses and brands.

Ballmer has been searching for an overall head of that business, and it will fall to the person he ultimately selects as digital head to figure out what to do next.

Until then, let’s rearrange some chairs!

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Yesterday, BoomTown opined that Microsoft was nearing a decision on who would become the head of its digital efforts.

And, according to several sources and some puzzling by me–if the deal can be sealed–I think that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s top choice is former Yahoo tech star Qi Lu.

If Ballmer manages to pull off the hire of Lu–on the heels of already grabbing another top Yahoo search exec, Sean Suchter, which I posted on yesterday–the aggressive exec could almost be bypassing a Yahoo search partnership he has long sought by sucking the talent right out of the place instead.

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At least Yahoo got one day of stock euphoria, on the news that its CEO Jerry Yang was stepping down, before Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dropped yet another bomb on the troubled Internet giant by saying once more with feeling that he is not at all interested in buying it.

Yahoo shares plummeted on the news, dropping below $10 a share to close at $9.14, down $2.41 or an astonishing 21 percent.

While lack of interest in acquiring Yahoo is a sentiment that Ballmer has expressed more times than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said “maverick” in the presidential campaign, Wall Street continues to hold out hope that Microsoft might swoop in and make a new bid for all of Yahoo.

It will not. Let’s repeat. It. Will. Not.

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Another week, another nonpick for the still-outstanding position to lead Microsoft’s digital business.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has cast about for more than three months, both internally and externally, for the person who will turbocharge Microsoft’s Web efforts, but no one has emerged a favorite.

Nonetheless, new prospects include former Cisco exec and current Joost CEO Mike Volpi, sources said.

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Is it just me or does it feel like the whole odd public back-and-forth between Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is beginning to mimic the endless loop of the deeply annoying relationship between Ross Geller and Rachel Green on the long-running NBC television hit, “Friends”?

At least in their star-crossed hijinks, Ross and Rachel smooched from time to time in between the juvenile bickering and push-me-pull-you antics.

But with Yang and Ballmer, it has been only juvenile bickering and push-me-pull-you antics 24/7, which is why BoomTown wishes they would just get a room.

A conference room to negotiate in, of course! (Get your minds out of the gutter!)

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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.”

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

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

Microsoft 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 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 said this afternoon, while also confirming my previous report that Yahoo Media Group head Scott Moore was departing.

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Aside from upcoming layoffs, it seemed as if Yahoo had stanched the flow of major execs from the company.

Not so, it seems, as sources with knowledge of the situation confirm that the two top execs of the troubled Internet company’s media unit will be announcing their departures later this week.

SVP Scott Moore, who runs Yahoo’s media group out of its offices in Santa Monica, Calif., and also Al Warms, who came to Yahoo from its BuzzTracker acquisition last year, will both be leaving, although it is not clear what their plans are.

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Jeff Dossett, a longtime Microsoft exec and current executive producer and general manager of MSN, is leaving the company, sources said, and is likely to land at Yahoo soon.

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

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.

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After the news broke that former Microsoft exec Joanne Bradford was headed to Yahoo as the head of its U.S. ad sales and more, I got to talk to both her and her new boss, Hilary Schneider, on the phone this morning about the move.

Bradford 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 market development at Yahoo.

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In what is both a surprising and not-so-surprising move, Yahoo has replaced its top U.S. ad sales exec with one from Microsoft.

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.

Karnstedt will join Redpoint Ventures and is being replaced by Joanne Bradford, a longtime and well-known Microsoft exec who decamped from the software giant to helm national ad sales at the trendy start-up Spot Runner just six months ago.

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