Yahoo!'s Top Ad Executive Leaving for Demand Media

With Bradford's expertise at revenue generation, Yahoo! will need to dig deep to replace her. At Demand Media, the growing and profitable upstart will mark the second time Bradford has left a large company for a start-up (albeit one with $200 million in annual revenue). Demand Media, which works with many freelancers to produce compelling and vetted commentary and content on a wide range of subjects, has even seen its social media strategy chased by larger companies. No wonder Bradford sees a large opportunity.

So, with a top web executive leaving -- and one with a track record in raising revenue -- what is Carol Bartz's next step? Can she lure another high-profile revenue king or queen to a company which is seen in the industry as somewhat of a has-been with a strategy that is floating at the top of the fish bowl? Yahoo! may need to replace Bradford with a qualified internal candidate, but who knows -- it could have luck recruiting a top seller like AOL did with former Google exec Tim Armstrong.