Yahoo has combined its search and display advertising sales teams and promoted David Karnstedt to take the lead of the newly created U.S. sales division.
Mr. Karnstedt, whose previous position was senior vice president of Yahoo’s search sales business, will now hold the title of head of North American sales.
The move comes less than a week after the search engine company’s co-founder Jerry Yang replaced Terry Semel as CEO.
“Integrating our world-class search and display sales teams under [Mr. Karnstedt’s] leadership will allow us to better serve all of our advertisers’ marketing objectives ranging from brand awareness to direct response,” Sue Decker, president of Yahoo, said in a statement. “This is one of many important steps we’re taking to re-invigorate our display business, further build on our industry-leading position in advertising and drive thought leadership in the online advertising marketplace.”
Mr. Karnstedt will continue to report to Gregory Coleman, executive vice president of global sales at Yahoo. Wenda Millard, chief U.S. sales officer at Yahoo, will leave the company.
“The future of advertising isn’t about choosing between search and display but about leveraging the breadth of advertising products to more effectively reach your customers with the right message, in the right context, at the right time, and on the right platform,” Mr. Coleman said in a statement.
