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Yahoo search exec Larry Cornett moving on

One of the key executives charged with explaining Yahoo's new approach to search following its Microsoft deal is leaving the company.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
Tom Krazit
Larry Cornett, formerly vice president of consumer products for Yahoo Search
Larry Cornett, formerly vice president of consumer products for Yahoo Search Cornett Experience

One of Yahoo's key search executives, who sought to put the best light on its decision to outsource back-end search crawling to Microsoft over the last several months, is leaving the company.

Larry Cornett, formerly vice president of search consumer products, announced his departure from Yahoo on his personal blog, as spotted by Search Engine Land. Cornett was one of the more visible search executives at Yahoo over the past year, as he sought to gain respect for Yahoo's search technology at the same time as defending the company's decision to cut a search deal with Microsoft.

Yahoo has tried to bolster its sagging search market share by emphasizing the work it has done in improving the presentation of search results, an effort in which Cornett often served as lead spokesman. The company has stabilized its share in recent months, but only after resorting to gimmicks such as turning news photo galleries into "search" queries.

While Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz continues to insist the company is committed to search in that respect--search results as a user-experience design problem--that's exactly the kind of background Cornett possessed, having led software design teams at eBay and Apple, among other stops, according to his LinkedIn profile. Cornett plans to work on a newly launched consulting business, but also said in his blog post that he's working on a start-up in stealth mode.