Redmond, Washington — If you cannot have them, hire them, is the latest Microsoft’s goal as it continues to poaches search talent away from Yahoo. The Redmond Vole on Wednesday confirmed that it has hired Larry Heck, another Yahoo executive to its online services division in an attempt to increase its competitive edge in the search market.
Larry Heck, presently serving as Yahoo’s vice president of search and advertising sciences at Yahoo Labs, has took over a job with Microsoft in the firm’s online services research and development division.
“He will begin in a few weeks’ time. We look forward to welcoming him to the team,” said a Microsoft spokesman.
Heck is the most recent of several Yahoo search personnel Microsoft has snagged in recent months.
Heck managed Yahoo’s efforts to make Internet-search results more relevant, said Mike McCue, general manager for Microsoft’s Tellme unit. A vice president at Yahoo, Heck would be at least the third Yahoo search executive to join Redmond, Washington- based Microsoft since November.
After failing to purchase Yahoo’s search business last year, Microsoft has been constantly poaching the company’s finest talent. Microsoft is investing in search technology to close the gap with Google, which has seven times as much Internet-search traffic, giving it more opportunities to sell online advertising. Microsoft ranks third in the U.S. search market, behind Yahoo.
“If you are working in search right now and you see Microsoft’s budget and compare that with what has gone on at Yahoo the last few years, it may make sense to move,” said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Kirkland, Washington-based Directions on Microsoft. “They want to go where the money is.”
Microsoft also hired Qi Lu, the executive vice president of Yahoo Search and Advertising Technology Group, who took over as head of Microsoft’s Online Services Group on Jan. 5. Lu was also responsible for development work in Yahoo’s search and marketplace business unit.
“We are happy to confirm that Larry Heck has accepted a job at Microsoft. He will be working for Satya Nadella, SVP, research and development, online services division, and he will start in a few weeks’ time. We look forward to welcoming him to the team,” Microsoft said.
Heck’s LinkedIn profile reveals that his responsibilities at Yahoo include scientific development, analysis and deployment of Yahoo search, display advertising algorithms and search monetisation.
Heck will report to Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft’s research and development. Nadella reports to Qi Lu, who was the last big Yahoo name to defect to Microsoft.
While Microsoft is cutting as many as 5,000 jobs in the next 18 months, the company’s search business is still hiring.
Yahoo spokeswoman Kim Rubey declined to comment.