Microsoft Hires Former Yahoo Exec To Run Online Services

(MoneyWatch)  Microsoft has hired former Yahoo executive Qi Lu to run its online services business. Lu will start on January 5 and report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, according to a CNET report.

The company also announced that Brian McAndrews, the former CEO of Aquantive and a Microsoft advertising executive considered to be the leading internal candidate for the online job, would be leaving Microsoft. McAndrews will spend the next few months consulting Ballmer and Lu before departing.

Lu, who worked at Yahoo for about a decade, was one of several executives who left the struggling Internet company earlier this year. At the time, he was vice-president of engineering, overseeing the company's search and e-commerce efforts. Prior to Yahoo, he was a researcher at IBM's Almaden Research Center.

Also see: Mary Jo Foley: Former Yahoo exec to head Microsoft Online Services; Former aQuantive chief quits

Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. This post first appeared in ZDNet's Between the Lines blog.