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Thursday, December 04, 2008

Microsoft Recruits Former Yahoo Wiz

Matt Egan

FOXBusiness

Software giant Microsoft (MSFT) is turning to former Yahoo (YHOO) online search and ad wiz Qi Lu to head up CEO Steve Ballmer's quest to compete with search leader Google (GOOG).

The recruitment of Lu, which was announced late Thursday, comes months after Microsoft abandoned marathon efforts aimed at acquiring Yahoo.

“I am tremendously excited to welcome Qi to Microsoft,” Ballmer said in a press release. “Dr. Lu’s deep technical expertise, leadership capabilities and hard-working mentality are well-known in the technology industry, and Microsoft will benefit from his addition to our executive management team."

The recruitment of Lu isn't likely to cool chatter that Microsoft may make another run at acquiring Yahoo's search operations.

Lu was in charge of development efforts around Yahoo's search and monetization platforms and left the company in August after 10 years of service.

“I am genuinely excited about the opportunities ahead for Microsoft to make an enormous impact on the online industry,” Lu said in a release. “Microsoft has built a great foundation for its search and advertising technologies and put an amazing team of researchers and engineers in place to drive the next wave of innovation in online services."

Microsoft also announced the departure of advertising exec Brian McAndrews, who was said to be a leading internal candidate for the digital job Lu landed. McAndrews will transition out of Microsoft over the next several months while serving as a consultant to Ballmer and Lu.