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 Anna Zornosa is leaving Yahoo! Personals.

Today we are announcing a transition in leadership within Yahoo! Personals. After two years driving Yahoo! Personals to be one of the leading online dating sites in the industry, Anna Zornosa has decided to pursue a career opportunity outside of Yahoo!

Yahoo! Personals has realized significant growth and delivered enormous value to our customers and partners under Anna’s leadership.  Enhancements to the property have included the development of a brand-new platform and important features to expand the online dating experience for our customers, including QuickView, Who’s Viewed Me, the latest in photos and captions technology, and key alliances with organizations such as BeliefNet.  While we are sad to see her leave, we wish Anna all the best and thank her for leading the team on focus and execution.

With this news, Egon Smola will serve as the interim lead of Yahoo! Personals. Egon will assume this role immediately and assist with the transition until the overall Yahoo! Network Division picture crystallizes. As a four-year veteran of Yahoo!, and specifically Yahoo! Personals, Egon is a well-respected leader with a proven track record in building successful teams and driving strategic business initiatives for the company. During his tenure at Yahoo! Personals, he has introduced the Premiere service offering, managed international relationships, drove strategy and managed all pricing and revenue optimization.

The remainder of the Personals executive team will remain intact, with Susan Mernit driving product as the team completes a nearly two-year overall haul of its platforms and features. All other leaders including Ellen Perelman (marketing), Arie Grapa (engineering), Kaari Peterson (UED), Pradeep Subbarayan (Bus ops) will also continue their existing roles.

See my recent post, The Inside Story at Yahoo! Personals for more information.