Yahoo! has needed a face lift for quite sometime now. Advertising sales continues to lag behind Google, and innovation seems to have hit a standstill. In what has to be the best decision the company has made in quite some time, CEO Terry Semel has stepped down and has been replaced by Jerry Yang. To take the spot of president, Susan Decker has been tapped.

Who Is Jerry Yang?

Jerry Yang

For those who aren’t aware, Jerry is actually the Co-Founder of Yahoo. Along with David Filo, Jerry started the company in January of 1994. Jerry is also currently worth somewhere on the order of $2.2 billion, making him 432nd wealthiest man on the planet Earth.

As a result of this new corporate structure, Yahoo’s stock price jumped .82 cents to $28.12 on Monday, then it improved another $1.33 during extended trading.

Web 2.0 Roundup

There is no telling what this new regime has in store for Yahoo! but here are a few things that they should consider when deciding on a plan of action.

New Advertising Model. Google currently controls the market on contextual text and banner advertising. It might be time to start looking at another vertical. Right now, no one seems to want to move into the rich media space. Yahoo could be well positioned to take advantage of this fact.

Simplicity. While they have improved substantially since this time last year, Yahoo really needs an UI upgrade. When you try to push content along thirty or forty different vectors, usability can get lost in the shuffle. I suggest they take some time to focus group their users, and use their feedback to redesign the UI.

A New Message. Somewhere along the lines, much like Apple a decade ago, Yahoo has lost its brand identity. It’s difficult for people to understand exactly “why” they should use Yahoo in the first place. Jerry should take a page out of Steve Jobs’ handbook and try to recreate the culture. Find a new message and strive to recreate the idea of Yahoo in the minds of users.

Will Mr. Yang be able to turn this company around? Only time will tell. Either way, it will be an interesting ride.