Yahoo! Local GM Paul Levine is leaving after five years for a senior job at AdBright, an ad marketplace backed by Sequoia Capital. When he arrived at Yahoo, Levine was an MBA who came from eTrade and wasn’t really a local ringer. But he was innovative, got the hang of things quickly, and took a lead role in getting sales deals done with all the key Yellow Pages players, and integrating various Yahoo! features into Yahoo! Local.
It wasn’t clear how Levine, and Yahoo! Local as a division, fit into things once Hilary Schneider arrived in a more senior position (and it still isn’t). But most would agree he was not only competitive – a prerequisite for this kind of job — but straightforward, thoughtful and interesting. Analyst-types liked him. I thought he was especially good on a Small Business Commando Webinar that Dick Larkin and I produced last August (also starring Kelsey’s Matt Booth).
Jennifer Dulski will be taking over local responsibilities as Group VP & GM, Marketplace. The position will also include responsibility for Shopping, Travel, Autos and Real Estate. Dulski, a nine- year Yahoo! veteran, most recently ran Yahoo! Autos.
Before Autos, Dulski served as VP of Business Unit Marketing, leading Yahoo!’s marketing strategy for a wide ranging portfolio of businesses including Search, Local, Shopping, Personals, Sports, News, Entertainment, Music, Groups, My Yahoo! and Small Business. In this role, says the release, “Dulski oversaw marketing teams that gathered consumer insights, drove ROI positive acquisition and retention and helped to build the Yahoo! brand.”