WebProNews

Given all that's gone on at Microsoft lately, it's hard to believe that the company has been running around without anyone in charge of its Online Services Group.  That period is coming to an end, though, as Dr. Qi Lu, a former Yahoo exec, has gotten the job.

 Dr. Qi Lu

Lu looks to be an important addition.  He was employed by Yahoo for about 10 years, most recently working as executive vice president of Engineering for the Search and Advertising Technology Group.  Before that, Lu spent time at IBM, and earned a Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.  So we're talking about an extremely bright individual.

People who have commented on an article titled "Dear Yahoos: Does Qi Lu Have What It Takes To Fix MSN?" also paint the man as a hard worker who puts in long hours.

As part of Microsoft's formal announcement, Lu himself said in a statement, "I am genuinely excited about the opportunities ahead for Microsoft to make an enormous impact on the online industry.  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.  I'm looking forward to working with them to help transform the way people and businesses use the Internet to find and share information."

Lu will report to Steve Ballmer, and is scheduled to start on Monday, January 5th.