Troubled Yahoo appoints Google’s Marissa Mayer as new CEO

London - The ailing technology firm Yahoo has appointed leading Google executive Marissa Mayer as its next CEO.

The 37-year-old engineer will become the firm’s third CEO in the space of a year.

In a statement released by Yahoo, Mayer said that she was “honoured and delighted” to lead the company.

The troubled company saw CEO Scott Thompson stepping down in May, after accusations that he put a fake computer degree on his CV. Later in September 2011, CEO Carol Bartz was fired after two-and-a-half years in the post.

Although interim CEO Ross Levinsohn was thought to have been the favourite for the job, Monday’s announcement revealed that Mayer was to take the helm.

Correspondents insist that the selection of Mayer to head the company suggests a renewed focus on technology and products, over online content.

“I look forward to working with the company’s dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalised experiences to users and advertisers all around the world,” BBC quoted her as saying.

The former Google employee has becomes one of very few women in Silicon Valley to rise to the top of a major technology firm.

“A lot of people did not believe that Yahoo could get someone of the caliber of a Marissa Mayer to become the CEO at this stage,” Standard and Poor’s equity analyst Scott Kessler was quoted as saying.

Ms Mayer, who takes up her post at Yahoo on Tuesday, joined Google in 1999 as the company’s first female engineer.

A former computer science student at California’s Stanford University, Mayer was the fledgling company’s 20th employee and the one of its most visible senior executives.

Mayer has also been known to work on creating the Google search engine and the company’s widely-recognised home page.

More recently, Mayer was appointed in charge of the technology giant’s location and mapping services, which include Google Maps, Earth, Local and Street View.

The techie has been credited with shaping much of the “look and feel” of Google’s user experience.

She currently serves on the boards of Wal-Mart, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Ballet and New York City Ballet and now she will also join Yahoo’s board.