Yahoo! Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) fortunes seem to have shifted in the last few months, with purchases like BlueLithium and Zimbra firming up the company's strategy inside targeted consumer behavior (when it comes to online ads and purchases) and corporate email. In fact, those two acquisitions sound like knives in the collective backs of Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), respectively. Google's future revenue enterprise may rest on more efficiently connecting buyers and sellers, and Microsoft's presence in the corporate email market with its Exchange product is huge.

So, when I hear of Yahoo! starting to possibly de-emphasize the premium services that former CEO Terry Semel trumpeted from the top of his lungs back in 2002, it just shows how things have changed in the internet portal marketplace. No longer are customers willing to pay to receive services they can get elsewhere for free. Add that on top of the Google-led shift to advertising as a sole revenue source and away from a paid-customer model, and Yahoo! seems to finally be acknowledging that it may need to follow suit.

First up is the Yahoo! Music business, which runs a music subscription model (monthly paid service) that, according to sources, is not doing too well. With so many other competitors in the market for downloadable music, this comes as little surprise. I have to wonder how many resources have been dumped into Yahoo! Music thus far, or if it has ever made money? Marketing dollars and headcount will be moving into other strategic areas it appears, and I'll surmise that Yahoo! Music won't be the only premium (paid) service to come under the microscope soon.

If I were Susan Decker, I'd be rollicked with mixed emotions. On one hand, the long-awaited exit of Terry Semel as Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO gives Sue a lot of room to get on with her company's renovation. She's often been seen as Yahoo!'s strongest leader and most talented executive; Semel's resignation really makes the company hers in a way it never could be before. In December, her promotion to Executive Vice President, Head of Advertiser and Publisher Group made her the heir apparent. And she's been named President, surely a lovely title reminiscent of ultimate power.

But on the other hand, this is a corporation, and the real power is in the position of Chief Executive Officer -- the job we all know she should (if she has half the ambition she seems) truly desire. Not only that, but the rest of the world agrees she's the best candidate for the position. This perfect opportunity to give her the title for which her career has been grooming her? It's been passed over, and we all have to wonder: what were they thinking? and, will she ever be the bride? and, if you were her, wouldn't you be updating your profile on HotJobs about now?

Every deep discussion of the Semel resignation contains the same perplexed question. Various answers to the why not Sue? conundrum include "because she's not an outsider" and "I just don't know." Could it be because she doesn't have the coding geek background? Because she's a woman? Or is the board really (as many suggest, but I don't buy) just biding their time until ... something ... to name her CEO?

Come on. If Susan was going to be named CEO, now would be the time. Why put off any longer? If the board really was happy with her in the role, the job would be hers, effective immediately. Last time they reorganized the entire company to give her a new-and-improved title. This one, to me, says "you know honey, maybe you're just not CEO material." What do you think?

Finally, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) has ditched its CEO Terry Semel, according to MarketWatch. And the new CEO is Jerry Yang, a co-founder of the company. Former CFO, Susan Decker was named president, positioning her for a chance to take over the top slot.

It is beyond me why Semel held onto his job for so long. He helped stabilize Yahoo after the dot-com crash but has stumbled from one incompetent quarter to the next for years. And he has taken home some truly outrageous pay -- a total of $452 million in salary, bonus and stock-option exercises since April 2001 [subscription] -- during which time Yahoo stock has risen four-fold.

However, in the last year the disconnect between Semel's pay and Yahoo's performance became too much to take. According to the New York Times, his total 2006 pay was $107.5 million during which time Yahoo's stock fell 35%. And directors concluded Yahoo was just not catching up fast enough with Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) so Semel had to go.

Susan Decker had been positioned to take over the company as CEO. But Yahoo's board probably decided that she was not yet ready. However, she is considered to have the inside track during the CEO search to replace Semel. So Yang's appointment could be just a temporary move that will help stabilize the company until she is ready.

Or, with the stock up 8% to $29.62 in after-hours trading, he might just sell it. It would make a nice morsel for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.

[See our live blog of the web cast in which Terry Semel discusses his resignation here.]

Very early in the morning, stock futures are mixed, albeit trending downward, pointing to a flat to positive start for the S&P 500 and a negative start for the Nasdaq.

Overseas, Asian market were positive, while European markets are flat to negative. The dollar strengthened somewhat against the pound and the euro, but not as much against the yen.

With little economic data today other than weakly crude inventories to be released at 10:30, and ahead of the all important and market impacting non-farm payroll to be reported Friday, the market will pay more attention to management shakeup and some leading, but struggling, companies such as Yahoo! and DaimlerChrysler.

First, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). The buzz started yesterday in the afternoon that major shakeup and reorganization in the company are to come as Sarah Gilbert pointed out last night. YHOO stock has been struggling losing 30% YTD while competitor Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares are up over 17% YTD.

As part of the reorganization at Yahoo!, Chief Operating Officer Daniel Rosensweig and Media Group chief Lloyd Braun will leave the company, while Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Susan Decker will assume an even more prominent management role. Farzad Nazem, Yahoo's chief technology officer, will remain in that position. By all accounts, this positions Decker to succeed Semel as the CEO. YHOO shares are up half a percent in pre-market.

Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler Group's executive vice president of global sales, marketing and service, and No. 2 in DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE:DCX) Chrysler Group will leave the company to run his own Mercedes-Benz dealership. Apparently, a Mercedes dealership is still profitable despite falling sales in Chrysler.

Novell Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is sinking more than 8% in pre-market after reporting disappointed quarterly financial results yesterday. Revenue fell 15% to $244.9 million, compared to analysts forecast of $251.5 million. Novell also said it would likely incur $20 million to $25 million in restructuring charges.

Wall Street investment banks can breathe a little easier today as a federal appeals court rejected a securities class-action lawsuit accusing them of manipulating the prices of initial public offerings during the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s, according to The New York Times. The potential settlements could have amounted to billions with nearly all banks affected. The plaintiffs, however, could seek a review by the entire panel of the Second Circuit.

US Airways Group (NYSE:LCC) CEO Doug Parker said his company will drop its proposed takeover of Delta Air Lines (Other OTC:DALRQ) if Delta management remains unconvinced of the benefits, as he is not prepared to fight with management.

A few weeks ago we were buzzing about a posting in which several Yahoo! insiders and outsiders were ranked with the probability they might succeed embattled CEO Terry Semel. The scuttlebutt amongst media insiders: Yahoo! is disorganized, without a unifying personality to lead the company, weak on strategy and thinly-staffed. First among the contenders to take over Terry's job and charge forth with a new mission was CFO Susan Decker.

It seems as if the "bookies" were right. Tonight Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) got a reorganization. In the press release, the company announces it has divided itself into three sections: the Audience Group, the Advertiser & Publisher Group, and the Technology Group. What's more, COO Dan Rosensweig is leaving the company in March (he was rumored to be a rival to Decker for the CEO spot). Decker will head the Advertiser & Publisher Group (i.e. where the money is), certainly a nod toward her potential to take over the "corner cube" from Semel.

Buzz started at 4 p.m. local time: there was an internal company-wide executive level webcast. Nothing says "someone is getting fired" like "internal company-wide executive-level webcast." At least not in a web company! The response so far: "no surprise," "no surprise" that Project Panama is being set as a priority for the new Technology group (and, from the same post, "If you can't sum up a unit in 30 words maybe it's not streamlined enough"), "where is Jeff Weiner, Yahoo!'s former golden boy?" and, from an insider, why not Britney Spears as CEO? [Or, at the very least, the head of the audience group, for which a search party has been launched.]