Yahoo to Leave Burbank Offices

Yahoo! Inc. is moving its search marketing division out of its Burbank campus to consolidate with operations in Playa Vista, a spokeswoman for the company said. The Sunnyvale-based technology company is also eliminating 90 positions from the Burbank location, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state Employment Development Department. Those layoffs are effective April 18. Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Meyer announced early this month that the tech giant would have to cut 15 percent of its 11,000 employees as it tries to revamp its core Internet business. Spokeswoman Carolyn Clark could not say how many employees would be making the move to Playa Vista. The move is expected to be completed by early April, she added. Search marketing uses an auction model for businesses to bid for prime space in search results. Yahoo Search Marketing began in Pasadena as a start-up called GoTo.com and later changed its name to Overture Services. Yahoo acquired the company in 2003. The search marketing division moved to Burbank in 2006 from Pasadena. At that time it had a staff of 1,200-plus, making it the largest employer at the 19-acre Media Studios North office park on Empire Avenue near the Burbank Bob Hope Airport. Over the years, however, layoffs due to restructuring resulted in that high number to dwindle to less than 300 employees.