WebProNews

Looking to consolidate its listings services while horning in a bit on Craigslist's local classifieds business, Yahoo! has hired former Knight Ridder executive Hillary Schneider to head up the company's new Yahoo! Marketplaces unit.

The new unit will connect Yahoo! listings properties like Autos, Classifieds, HotJobs, Personals, Real Estate, Shopping, and Auctions, Travel, and Yellow Pages. Schneider, who starts Monday in Sunnyvale, said that the newly combined units wouldn't change the consumer relationship.

"Hilary has extensive experience in both the operational and technological aspects of classifieds and media businesses that will enable her to provide important strategic direction to our new Marketplaces group," said Schneider's new boss, executive vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer, Susan Decker.

"By organizing all of these properties under Hilary's leadership, we believe that we are ideally positioned to leverage our current assets to take advantage of the significant growth potential in this large and rapidly growing online space."

Prior to joining Yahoo!, Schneider was senior vice president for Knight Ridder Inc., a $3 billion revenue company, where she co-managed the newspaper operations and led its digital division.

Recently comScore reported that the overall online classifieds business has grown by 47 percent in the last year. Craigslist has dominated the space, attracting over a third of US classifieds traffic. Combined with all Trader Publishing Company properties, the two control 75 percent of the market.

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Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.