Web pioneer Yahoo announced a reorganization Thursday that included a larger role for its president Susan Decker and an expansion of the Sunnyvale, California-based firm's cloud computing services, in moves seeking to stabilize Yahoo after turning down Microsoft's takeover bid. Yahoo is the second most popular Internet search engine and has more than 500 million users among its global Web properties.

Shakeup Aimed At Creating New Audience Organization

The reorganization called for centralizing portions of Yahoo's consumer businesses and services under what it termed an "audience organization," that will create a regional United States division headed by Hilary Schneider, who has been the firm's executive vice president for global-partner solutions in charge or advertising.

A new audience products division will be headed by Ash Patel, Yahoo's executive vice president of platforms and infrastructure, while a third new division called the "insights strategy team" was announced with a head to be named over the next several weeks, Yahoo said in a statement released Thursday. Patel, who has worked for Yahoo since its early days, will head the development of new products at the Web pioneer.

Each of the three new divisions will fall under oversight from Yahoo president Susan Decker, who has helped Schneider on her rise to the position announced Thursday. Some analysts saw the restructuring move as a sign Yahoo was shifting more responsibility and power to Decker.

Latest Restructuring Plan Comes Amidst Falling Share Prices

The reorganization, which was Yahoo's fourth similar shakeup within the past 18 months, will see Schneider work with three of Yahoo's existing global business properties in Europe, Asia and emerging markets, Yahoo said.

"These moves accelerate the ability of our deep and talented team to build great products, grow our audiences and improve monetization globally," said Yahoo co-founder and chief executive Jerry Yang in the statement. "They are designed to put us in an even better position to leverage our leading global audience and capture the opportunity we see in the convergence of search and display advertising," Yang added.

Shares of Yahoo stock fell 2.91 percent during trading Thursday, down $0.64 to $21.37, signaling that some shareholders may not view the reorganization plans announced earlier in the day as the type of internal shakeup that some had hoped would demonstrate that Yahoo is back on its feet.

Yahoo Earnings Report Due Out In July

News of the reorganization came a day after Yahoo sent a letter to its shareholders expressing enthusiasm about the search advertising agreement it has entered into with search giant Google, and ahead of both the company's earnings report due out in July, and its August 1 annual shareholders meeting.

Yahoo announced earlier this month that it had signed a long-term search advertising agreement with Google, and that it had rejected a proposal from Microsoft, announcements that signaled an end to the software giant's 18-week pursuit of Yahoo.

Yahoo's online advertising agreement with Google, which could extend as long as a decade should all renewals take place, will allow Google to provide ads alongside search results from Yahoo and on some of its United States and Canada Web properties.

Over the last several weeks Yahoo has lost three executive vice presidents, two senior vice presidents and a cadre of other key employees. Yahoo's main portal site was left without its leader and half of the department's deputies with the most recent spate of departures.

Yahoo Announces Reorganization With Larger Role For President Decker

Yahoo said that the departures were indicative of normal attrition in a modern Web media firm. "We have a deep and talented management team across all areas of the company," Yahoo said in a statement, a theme echoed Thursday by Yang in announcing the firm's reorganization.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates touted the talented engineering pool at Yahoo as being one of the reasons behind his firm's decision to pursue an acquisition, when speaking in February.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has said that Yahoo's board of directors made a flawed move when it refused Microsoft's takeover bid valued at $47.5 billion at the time, because it was detrimental to maximizing financial gains for Yahoo shareholders.

Yahoo will hold its annual shareholder meeting on August 1, during which Icahn is expected to seek to have his alternate slate of 10 board members elected, replacing current Yahoo board members including Yang with directors more agreeable to selling Yahoo to Microsoft. If Icahn's proxy fight were to succeed he would also seek the removal of Yang as chief executive at Yahoo.