Yahoo! Inc. announced that they’ve hired  Michael Barrett as their new Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer.  He will be in charge of Yahoo’s advertising revenue and operations globally, with Americas, EMEA and APAC regional leads reporting to him.

“Michael Barrett is regarded as one of the most successful and influential executives in media and technology, and I am thrilled to have him join Yahoo! in this critical role,” said Ross Levinsohn, Interim Chief Executive Officer.  “I am confident that his deep industry experience and relationships will help us drive our strategic vision, taking Yahoo!’s industry-leading position to the next level.”

Barrett was the former Executive Vice President of Sales and Partnerships at AOL Media Networks, then worked at Fox Interactive Media as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer overseeing worldwide revenue for all properties including MySpace and FoxSports.com, working closely with Levinsohn.  Then in 2008 he joined Admeld, a top global supply side platform solution for premium publishers, as CEO, being taken in by Google when the company was acquired in December 2011.

“Yahoo! is one of the largest and most iconic Internet companies in the world,” said Barrett. “I am grateful for this opportunity to work with Ross and a group of immensely talented and energized people, all focused on driving Yahoo’s leadership and strategic position on a global basis. I am looking forward to contributing everything I can to that effort.”

Barrett’s new position at Yahoo will be effective in July, and he will report directly to interim CEO Ross Levinsohn.   Barrett’s onboarding is viewed as another step towards Yahoo’s refreshed focus on digital ad sales and the possibility of abandoning or selling their ad tech business to become more of an ad vendor.

Nevertheless, this executive shakeup is not really surprising as they’ve undergone several top-level changes at Yahoo in recent years.

For one, Levinsohn became Yahoo’s interim CEO when Scott Thompson resigned after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and after it was revealed that he had falsified academic achievements once questions were raised by one of the largest shareholders of Yahoo, Third Point.

And it was Thompson that was hired to replace Carol Bartz, who was fired over the phone by Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock due to the board’s growing impatience over the slow turnaround of the company.  And while things haven’t sped up yet, Yahoo’s still anxious to  balance the sheets and implement a winning strategy as they struggle to survive the social revolution on the web.