• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 8, 2009

Marking its latest in a flurry of major management changes in recent months, AOL on Monday named former Yahoo executive Brad Garlinghouse as its new president of Internet and mobile communications. Reporting directly to new AOL head Tim Armstrong, Garlinghouse will lead the soon-to-be-independent company's efforts to expand its email and instant messaging services worldwide.

Heading up AOL's Silicon Valley operations from its Mountain View campus, Garlinghouse will also serve as the West Coast lead for AOL Ventures.

Along with his focus on communications products, Garlinghouse "will also be a major force for AOL in Silicon Valley, working to expand our presence there and in the tech community in general," said Armstrong.

Garlinghouse most recently served as an in-house senior advisor at Silver Lake Partners. Prior to this, he spent about six years at Yahoo, where he led its communications and community products.

In late May, Time Warner's board of directors authorized plans to spin off AOL as an independent, publicly traded company by the end of the year.

Under the direction of Armstrong, AOL then outlined a new five-point strategy for the future of the company. As outlined internally and to members of the press, it includes the continued expansion of its communication tools, vertical content, local and online mapping services, its third-party ad network, and early-stage investment through a newly formed AOL Ventures arm.

"Tim has set out a clear strategy and vision for where he is taking this company as it becomes independent again," Garlinghouse said. At Yahoo, Garlinghouse ultimately served as SVP of communications and communities. Prior to that, he served as SVP of communications, communities and "front doors," which included the Yahoo home page.

The new AOL will exist less as a Web portal and more as a fragmented network of niche content sites. This MediaGlow network, so-called, presently encompasses over 70 niche content sites -- with many more on the way, according to Jeff Levick, who was recently appointed president of AOL Advertising.

As part of a larger management shakeup, AOL named one of its former financial directors, Arthur Minson, as its new EVP and chief financial officer late last month. Minson replaced Nisha Kumar, who, under the direction of Armstrong, left the company in April alongside Greg Coleman, head of AOL's Platform A division.