Kara Swisher

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Exclusive: Yahoo Makes Another Major Product Exec Hire From Microsoft

After a query from BoomTown, Yahoo confirmed this afternoon that it had hired former Microsoft online exec Bill Shaughnessy (pictured here) as SVP of Product Management.

Shaughnessy will start next week and report to Chief Product Officer Blake Irving, another longtime vet of the software giant who recently arrived at Yahoo (YHOO).

Much like Irving too, Shaughnessy left Microsoft (MSFT) in late 2008 and took time off.

The senior advertising sales exec had served in a variety of jobs at the company over his 15 years there, but departed in the wake of consolidation at Microsoft’s online division.

Along with Shaughnessy and Irving, Yahoo also brought in another former Microsoft exec, Bobby Figueroa, as a VP of Product Management, in January. He also worked at Google (GOOG).

Yahoo could certainly use more expertise in the product arena, given it is considered a lot slower than competitors at rolling out new products in the fast-moving market.

Here’s the short announcement of the appointment from Yahoo:

Bill Shaughnessy will join Yahoo! as Senior Vice President of Product Management, beginning July 12, 2010. Reporting to Chief Product Officer Blake Irving, Bill will work with our products leadership team to help drive Yahoo!’s ongoing product strategy across global consumer and advertising products.

Bill previously held senior management positions at Microsoft for over 15 years, has extensive experience leading product planning, product management and product marketing for a multibillion dollar Internet business, and also brings great perspective from managing development, ad operations, sales, and international teams.

And here is Shaughnessy’s bio:

Bill Shaughnessy
Senior Vice President, Product Management, Yahoo!

Bill Shaughnessy will be joining Yahoo! on July 12th as the Senior Vice President of Product Management, responsible for driving ongoing product strategy, product planning and product marketing across Yahoo!’s global consumer and advertising products. Shaughnessy has extensive experience leading these functions for a multibillion dollar global Internet business and brings critical perspective from also managing development, international regions, marketing, ad operations and global sales teams.

Previously, he held senior management positions at Microsoft for over 15 years, most recently as Global Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Services in the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group where he oversaw sales, marketing, field enablement, customer satisfaction and was responsible for driving global advertising revenue. Prior to this role, he was General Manager of Microsoft’s Digital Advertising Solutions Business Group, responsible for strategy, product planning, product management and yield management. In addition, he held positions as the General Manager of Microsoft’s International Online Services and Communications Services Business Groups.

Shaughnessy serves on the Board of Directors at Mixpo, Inc., a dynamic video advertising technology company, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fresno.

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