Costello was previously president and CEO of MVP.com, an online sports goods retailer. Prior to that, he was a senior executive vice-president of US retail giant Sears, Roebuck & Co from 1993 to 1998, where he worked on the revitalisation of the Sears brand. At Sears, he was responsible for marketing, public and corporate affairs.
At Yahoo!, Costello will be responsible for leading worldwide strategic branding and supporting product marketing initiatives. Edwards, his predecessor, was a long-standing employee of the company and is credited with inventing the "Do you Yahoo!?" tagline. She left the company to spend more time with her family.
Yahoo! has also announced that it is to start charging commission fees for its auction service, beginning November 20. It plans to charge sellers between 0.5% and 2% of the value of the items sold, but is to lower its listing fees for auction items.
The move comes as Yahoo! looks to generate new revenue streams, with internet advertising drying up. The internet company has also started charging for its Yahoo Autos car listings service and it has not ruled out the possibility of charging for services such as Yahoo! Messenger in the future.
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