Another possible reason is that she has not actually done anything significant. Her time at Google was not spent working on any projects that produced notable success or revenue. Many think she was hired at Yahoo simply because of voodoo logic: she'll somehow bring Google Magick with her because she happened to get hired at Google early on.
> Her time at Google was not spent working on any projects that produced notable success or revenue.
Her CV begs to differ: she was VP of Search Products and User Experience, and then held key roles in Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Books, Google Product Search, Google Toolbar, iGoogle, and Gmail.
Mayer is no doubt smart and talented, but she was also at perfect place at the perfect time and rode the Google rocket ship straight to the top. So it's hard for outsiders to really separate talent from circumstance.
That said, you're very wrong. She had a defining impact on Google Search from the start, a project that did in fact produce notable success and revenue for the company.
