Yahoo is hiring long-time Google executive Marissa Mayer to be its next CEO, a surprise pick and the third CEO for the company in one year as the company struggles to rebound from years of financial malaise and internal turmoil.

Mayer, who starts at Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday, was one of Google's earliest employees - beginning her career there in 1999.

She was the Internet search company's first female engineer and has led various businesses at Google including the design of its flagship search engine. Mayer was most recently responsible for the search engine's mapping, local and location services.

Yahoo had been widely expected to appoint interim CEO Ross Levinsohn to the position. Levinsohn filled in after Scott Thompson lost his job in a flap over misinformation on his official biography.

Fred Amoroso, Yahoo's chairman, says the board was drawn to Mayer's "unparalleled track record in technology, design and product execution."

Mayer's appointment caps a tumultuous year at Yahoo. In May Scott Thompson resigned as CEO after less than six months on the job after a controversy over his academic credentials.

Thompson had replaced Carol Bartz, who was fired in September after failing to revitalise Yahoo.