Former Yahoo to Lead Microsoft Online Group

Microsoft has tapped former Yahoo exec Qu Li to head up its online services group, as the Redmond company looks to boost its search advertising business.

Microsoft has announced that former Yahoo executive Qi Lu will step in as the head of its online services group, effective January 5, 2008. Lu spent most of the last ten years at Yahoo, where he was most recently executive VP of engineering for Yahoo’s Search and Advertising Technology Group. While at Yahoo, Lu was responsible for developing Yahoo’s search advertisement and search monetization technologies; earlier roles includes building Yahoo’s Search and Marketplace and ecommerce effects. Lu left Yahoo in August of 2008.

“I am genuinely excited about the opportunities ahead for Microsoft to make an enormous impact on the online industry,” Li said in a statement. “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.”

The move comes as Microsoft re-iterates its current position that it is no longer interested in taking over Yahoo, while leaving open the possibility the company may still want to snap up Yahoo’s online search business.

As part of the realignment, Microsoft will move the field sales organization in its Online Services group to its consolidated sales and marketings service group.

While at Microsoft, Lu will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Before joining Yahoo, Lu worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center, Carnegie Mellon University, and China’s Fudan University. He holds 20 U.S. patents.