The Huffington Post has hired former Yahoo and AOL ad executive Greg Coleman as president and chief revenue officer. Coleman was head of advertising at Yahoo for seven years before leaving for AOL to run its Platform-A division. Coleman was instrumental in helping Yahoo develop its business model in 2001, and says its his “comfort zone” to help companies like The Huffington Post create and execute a business plan.
The Huffington Post was founded by Arianna Huffington and has raised over $37 million in three rounds including Greycroft Partners, Softbank Capital, Bob Pittman and Oak Investment Partners.
According to the Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post is building and expanding its vertical content, launching sites specific to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver.
With the addition of Coleman and the expansion of their new vertical content and websites, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of a Huffington Post vertical ad network in the near future.