Yahoo reorganizes services, technology under Decker

By Eric Auchard and Michele Gershberg

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc unveiled on Thursday the third phase of an extended reorganization, bolstering the operational control of President Sue Decker, as the company hones its independent strategy after rebuffing Microsoft Corp.

The changes centralize the management of once-separately run consumer services into a new "audience organization," Decker said in a phone interview.

The move, following similar changes over the past year to Yahoo's advertising business and the elevation of Decker and CEO Jerry Yang to power, is aimed at expanding Yahoo's audience and better capitalizing on the growth of Web advertising.

But the reorganization, widely anticipated for more than a week, failed to rally Yahoo's slumping stock amid a market sell-off that sent the Dow Jones index to a 21-month low.

Yahoo shares closed 2.9 percent lower at $21.37 on Nasdaq as investors continue to discount the value of its independent strategy versus the previously expected Microsoft-Yahoo deal.

Yahoo boasts more than 500 million visitors to sites ranging from e-mail to search to finance, news and sports.

The three new teams being created, all reporting to Decker, include an audience products division led by Ash Patel, who had run platforms and infrastructure -- Yahoo's technology side.

A new U.S. regional division will be led by Hilary Schneider, who had run the global partner solutions group in charge of the company's advertising. Yahoo also created an "insights strategy team," whose leader has yet to be named.