Yahoo on Monday announced that it has appointed Marissa Mayer, a former Google executive, to be its president and chief executive officer.

Mayer will also join Yahoo's board of directors and the appointment will be effective July 17, Yahoo said.

The appointment of Mayer signals a renewed focus on product innovation to drive user experience and advertising revenue at Yahoo, the company noted in a press release.

Mayer, the first female engineer hired at Google, joined the Internet search giant in 1999 as its 20th employee and led efforts for many of Google's most recognizable products including the search product and homepage.

She most recently served as Google's vice president of location and local services.

In a statement, Mayer said she was "honored and delighted" to lead Yahoo, one of the Internet's premier destinations for more than 700 million users.

"I look forward to working with the company's dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world," she said.

Mayer, 37, will be Yahoo's fifth CEO in five years and the appointment is making her one of the most powerful women in the U. S. technology industry.

Mayer will fill the post left open by Scott Thompson, former Yahoo CEO who stepped down in May over academic credentials.

Earlier reports by U.S. media listed several candidates for Yahoo's top job, including Levisohn and Jason Kilar, the CEO of online TV service Hulu, but Mayer's name was never mentioned.

In an interview with The New York Times on Monday, Mayer said that she was first approached in the middle of June about the job after returning from a trip to China.

"It was a reasonably easy decision" to take the top job at Yahoo as it is one of the best brands on the Internet, Mayer told the newspaper, which first reported her surprising appointment before Yahoo's official announcement.

The choice of Mayer, who has the experience of managing Google' s many innovative products, is seen as a new opportunity for Yahoo to make a fresh start.

滬江英語快訊：7月17日消息，雅虎今日任命谷歌原高管瑪麗莎梅耶爾出任公司新CEO，同時任命其進入雅虎董事會。該任命得到了雅虎聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人、公司大股東大衛(wèi)費羅的支持。在記者發(fā)布會上，雅虎表示，梅耶爾的加入無疑是給公司的產(chǎn)品創(chuàng)新打入了一針強心劑。梅耶爾聲明中說很榮幸能夠加入雅虎，希望自己能夠領(lǐng)導(dǎo)好這個團隊。

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