Can Carol Bartz save Yahoo!?

Carol Bartz has been in the driving seat at Yahoo! for just over a month and a half now, and according to her blog, she has been on a “whirlwind tour for the last six weeks”.

Bartz (60) replaces Jerry Yang as CEO after negotiations with both Microsoft and Google collapsed.

While Bartz has little experience in web advertising, she is no stranger to growing a technology company. She took over software company Autodesk in 1992 when it was a $250 million company. When she left Autodesk two years ago, she had turned it into a $1.25 billion company.

With experience like that, expectations are bound to be high for the new Yahoo! CEO.
So, what does Bartz have up her sleeve for in her new position?

For starters, she plans to roll out a new management structure which she expects will make Yahoo! “a lot faster on its feet”.

She also plans on creating a new Customer Advocacy group, which is great news for those of us who have had dealings with Yahoo customer support in the past.

Bartz has said that she plans to reinvigorate the Yahoo brand and simplify Yahoo’s product offerings.

All of this sounds like good news to consumers, but what does it mean for advertisers?

For many, there is hope that Yahoo Sponsored Search may see a new lease of life. But, there is a lot of work to be done considering the hefty competition from Google.