Google executive Marissa Mayer appointed Yahoo chief executive YAHOO has hired Google executive Marissa Mayer as its next chief executive in the internet company's latest attempt to revive its financial growth after years of upheaval. The surprise move announced yesterday makes Ms Mayer, 37, the fifth Yahoo CEO in the past five years to attempt to turn around an internet giant that has become as well-known for its follies as its online services. Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, has lost its lustre, while Google and Facebook surged ahead in the battle for the attention of web surfers and marketing budgets of advertisers. The struggles have depressed Yahoo's stock, pressuring the company to find a leader with the charisma, vision and skills to turn the tide. Ms Mayer becomes the second woman to get a chance to salvage Yahoo. Silicon Valley veteran Carol Bartz spent more than two-and-half years as CEO before she was sacked last September. Yahoo picked Ms Mayer over an internal candidate, Ross Levinsohn, who had been widely considered to be the front-runner for the job after stepping in to fill a void created two months ago when the company dumped Scott Thompson as CEO amid a flap over misinformation on his official biography. Mr Thompson's bio inaccurately said he had college degree in computer science - an accomplishment that Ms Mayer can rightfully list on her CV. She earned a master's in computer science at Stanford University, the same school where the co-founders from both Google and Yahoo honed their engineering skills. Plucking Ms Mayer from Google represents a rare coup for Yahoo, said Gartner analyst Allen Weiner. "She brings great leadership and is very popular in Silicon Valley," he said.