Yahoo hires Washington Post executive as North America ad sales head

(Reuters) - The Washington Post said its Chief Revenue Officer Kevin Gentzel was quitting to join Yahoo Inc as head of advertising sales for North America, after a little more than a year at the newspaper publisher.

The Washington Post reported its biggest digital advertising revenue last year under Gentzel, the publisher said in a statement.

He oversaw the rollout of the company's native advertising products, BrandConnect and BrandStudio.

Gentzel, who has earlier worked with online video service company News Distribution Network and Forbes magazine, will report to Yahoo's Americas head Ned Brody, the Wall Street Journal reported. (https://on.wsj.com/1sNtvop)

His appointment comes nine months after Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer ousted Chief Operating Officer Henrique de Castro, who she had poached from Google Inc.

De Castro's responsibilities at the time included Yahoo's global sales.

The Washington Post said on Tuesday that Arnie Applebaum, the publisher of its targeted products, would be interim chief revenue officer.

Steve Stup, the vice president and general manager of digital ad products and strategy, will oversee global sales until a new chief revenue officer is announced, the company said.

The transition will be effective from Nov. 1, the Washington Post said.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey)