Yahoo Confirms U.S. Ad Head Bradford's Departure–In Tweet-Sized Terms

Short and, well, not so sweet.

More like a tweet.

Yahoo (YHOO) confirmed a report earlier here today, in a statement so terse, it almost could have been sent on Twitter, that its head of North American revenue, Joanne Bradford, is leaving the company

The announcement did not mention that advertising sales veteran Bradford, who has also worked at Microsoft (MSFT), is going to social content start-up Demand Media as its new chief revenue officer.

Here it is, in its entirety (missing Twitter by only 22 characters):

“Joanne Bradford has decided to leave Yahoo! to pursue a new opportunity. Joanne will be working with the team over the coming weeks to enable a smooth transition.”

Sources told BoomTown that means within two weeks.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Demand Media also eventually put out a press release, which is quite a bit more enthusiastic:

Demand Media Appoints Joanne Bradford as Chief Revenue Officer

Former Yahoo and Microsoft Media Executive to Focus on Growing Branded Ad Sales and Platform Partnerships

SANTA MONICA, CA–March 15, 2010–Demand MediaTM, a leading content and social media company, today announced that Joanne Bradford joined the company as its Chief Revenue Officer. In this newly-created position, Bradford will oversee the growth of brand advertisers on the company’s top 20* owned and operated websites, as well as the adoption of the company’s professional content and social media platform by business partners. She will report to CEO and co-founder, Richard Rosenblatt.

“Joanne and I share a passion for listening to the consumer and using that information to give them exactly what they want. When content is produced with that perspective, it creates rewarding online experiences that visitors can easily discover and engage in,” said Rosenblatt. “This translates into unique opportunities for marketers, and with Joanne at the helm, we are well-equipped to provide expanded offerings to partners and advertisers.”

Bradford will drive the comprehensive sales strategy for the company’s category-leading O&O media properties, including eHowTM, LIVESTRONG.COMTM, Golflink.com, and Cracked® which combined grew its audience 102 percent year over year*. In addition, Bradford will oversee the company’s newly created Business Solutions Group, which delivers Demand Media’s professional content creation services and the award-winning Pluck social media suite. Leading publishers, marketers and retailers deploying Pluck include BF Goodrich, Kraft Foods, Lowes, NFL, Scott’s, USA Today and Whole Foods.

“Marketers are hungry for the ability to acquire new audiences with great content, opportunities to engage visitors with social media experiences and innovative ways to build long term connections to their brand.” said Bradford. “I’ve worked with hundreds of brand marketers over the years and am excited that Demand Media has created a platform that can deliver exactly what top marketers are seeking. This is a tremendous opportunity to reshape how online marketing works at scale.”

Most recently, Bradford served as Senior Vice President at Yahoo! where she was responsible for North American revenue generation activities and also struck innovative business partnerships. Previously, Bradford established herself as a new media trailblazer at Microsoft’s Internet Business unit where she helped grow online revenue to more than $2 billion and introduced innovative services such as in-game advertising and self-serve advertising platforms. Bradford has served on the IAB and Ad Council boards.

[Binder image courtesy of Zazzle.com]