WebProNews

The post-Terry Semel era at Yahoo sees a shakeup at the top of its cross-platform, North America sales team, as Wenda Harris Millard moves from the portal company to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Yahoo Sales Chief Joins Martha Stewart

Did Millard jump or was she pushed? Millard had been Yahoo's chief sales officer, and a member of Yahoo for six years. Yahoo announced her departure in a statement, and the elevation of David Karnstedt to head of a combined search and display advertising sales unit.

The text regarding Millard's departure in Yahoo's statement bears the sort of clues that one of Semel's top sales recruits had the door held wide open for her to exit:

As part of the reorganization, Wenda Millard, Yahoo!'s Chief Sales Officer in the US will be leaving the company effective immediately.

(Gregory Coleman, Yahoo!'s EVP of Global Sales) added, "While Wenda was a big contributor to our success in the past, the industry has shifted and requires a different set of skills to take the business forward. We appreciate her dedication during her years of service and wish her well in the next chapter of her career."

A "different set of skills" sounds like a back-handed swipe when one takes a peek at Millard's experience. This is from her now-purged bio on Yahoo's management page:

A seasoned executive with over twenty-five years of publishing and advertising experience, Millard was formerly Chief Internet Officer at Ziff Davis Media and president of Ziff Davis Internet. Previously, she was executive vice president of DoubleClick, where she was responsible for establishing the DoubleClick brand and oversaw the operations of DoubleClick Media.

Here is what Paid Content reported on Millard's new job; Millard has been a member of the Martha Stewart board of directors prior to this:

Wenda Harris Millard’s appointment as president of media signals a shift in organization and an acknowledgment that broadcast, print and internet belong together. MSLO CEO Susan Lyne credits Martha Stewart with knowing that if they stayed in silos, the company never would be able to deliver.

Yahoo's statement makes it sound like Millard, a Harvard MBA, spent her time hanging around the Yahoo cafeterias, drinking coffee and talking about the end of The Sopranos. Lyne touted Millard in the Paid Content piece as "a really strong head of media" who can deliver a cross-platform strategy for MSLO.

Will the real Wenda Harris Millard please stand up?

As for Yahoo, the reorganization of its sales teams, combining Search and Display under Karnstedt, looks like more power consolidation. Karnstedt's boss Coleman reports to Yahoo president Sue Decker, who looks more and more like someone positioning herself for Semel's old office.

Karnstedt's quote in Yahoo's statement contained what sounds like a touchy-feely strategy to building sales for the combined ad services:

"By taking a more holistic approach to advertising sales, Yahoo! will become a more consultative seller, which should make buying complete solutions easier for our customers across Yahoo! and our partner network," said Karnstedt.

Holistic approach? Consultative seller? Are Yahoo's customers buying ads or sandalwood incense?

The phrasing just seems odd with Yahoo facing the continued dominance of Google at the top of the online ad market, and a host of competitors like Microsoft, AOL, and Ask.com snapping at its heels. Yahoo shareholders might have preferred a little tougher talk out of their new sales leader.