TKG has learned that local online industry veteran Mark Canon has accepted the position of president-new media at Yell, the U.K.’s leading directory publisher. He will start in July and take over for the retiring Eddie Cheng.

Canon brings a varied background to Yell, having been an Internet Yellow Pages pioneer at Switchboard, with subsequent stints at AOL and Autobytel. He offers a sharp intellect and the kind of insight that only comes from long experience in building compelling local search experiences.

Canon’s recent stint at Autobytel in particular rounds out his experience to include a deep understanding of how vertical search has become such a critical trend in the directional media space.

At Yell, Canon will find an online operation that has experienced stunning recent sales growth but needs strong leadership to make sure product development keeps pace with a very competitive U.K. online market.

Update (6/27/08): Yell formally announced Canon’s appointment today. Here is the press release.