• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 4, 2008

ValueClick today announced the promotion of David Yovanno to the role of chief operating officer of U.S. media, effective immediately.

A member of ValueClick's U.S. media management team since 2000, Yovanno most recently served as general manager of U.S. display advertising.

"ValueClick is in a strong position with critical mass in each of the established channels of online marketing," said Yovanno.

Yovanno will report to ValueClick's CEO, Tom Vadnais, and will have overall responsibility for the company's U.S. display advertising, lead generation and comparison shopping businesses.

"Dave will work closely with the senior managers of our display advertising, lead generation and comparison shopping divisions to drive growth," Vadnais.

James Zarley, executive chairman, will continue to focus on the company's strategic direction, and will assist in the transition of U.S. media operations to Mr. Yovanno.

ValueClick is one of few publicly traded companies in its sector that has yet to be gobbled up by a major technology company. In the past year, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and holding company WPP each have acquired a variety of public and private companies in the space.

In late September, rumors were again swirling that Time Warner's AOL was considering buying ValueClick to boost its online ad properties. The company's units include an affiliate marketing business--which could be of interest to AOL, since AOL has shown interest in buying such companies.

Forgoing the lead-generation space for now, ValueClick has been on the lookout for accretive deals to enhance its affiliate marketing, search, and comparison-shopping capabilities.

Last summer, ValueClick's president of U.S. operations, Tom Vadnais, was named CEO--succeeding James Zarley, who assumed the position of executive chairman. Zarley, who has been CEO since 1999, navigated ValueClick through an FTC investigation.