The new Queen of the Yahoos.

Well, well, look what just came across the Betabeat ticker: Google's Marissa Mayer is now the CEO of Yahoo. DealBook is reporting that she resigned today--by phone, no less--and that she'll start the new gig tomorrow.

God knows there's no time to dilly-dally.

Recent reports had put interim CEO Ross Levinsohn in the lead, with the selection process expected to drag on for weeks. Ms. Mayer's selection is, suffice it to say, a bombshell.

But once you pick yourself up off the floor and begin recovering from the initial shock, it starts to make more sense. For one thing, as DealBook also points out, in recent years, Ms. Mayer was starting to look at little stymied in her current position heading up local:

After years of heading-up its search business, Google’s most profitable unit, Ms. Mayer became vice president of the company’s local efforts in late 2010. The following year, Google then promoted another executive, Jeff Huber, to be the senior vice president of local and commerce, putting him one level above Ms. Mayer’s post. Although Google characterized her move as a promotion at the time, some wondered if she would be content with the reorganization.

She might've been employee number 20, but she wasn't likely to be the big boss any time soon, either.

Now she enters an environment that is, shall we say, a little challenging. CEO Scott Thompson resigned in disgrace after it emerged that despite what his resume indicated, he did not, in fact, major in computer science. His full-time predecessor, Carol Bartz, was unceremoniously booted from the top spot and sailed off into the sunset with a company-wide email announcing, “I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s chairman of the board.”

What is it with Yahoos and phone calls?

In a statement released by Yahoo, Ms. Mayer said,

"I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo!, one of the internet's premier destinations for more than 700 million users. I look forward to working with the Company's dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world."

Ms. Mayer does, in fact, have a masters in computer science.

(Via Steve Kovach)