Microsoft-Yahoo Update

MICROSOFT-YAHOO UPDATE
The proposed deal between Microsoft and Yahoo continues to earn lots of ink...

* Yahoo Studies Alternatives to Microsoft
Yahoo is holding out hope that there are ways it can thwart Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover offer, including the emergence of a rival bidder or a business tie-up with Google Inc. that might allow it to remain independent, people familiar with the matter say. No serious alternative bids have emerged, and antitrust experts say Google's latitude to do even a business deal with Yahoo is minimal because of likely regulatory concerns. At Microsoft, optimism is growing that the $31-a-share offer for Yahoo that it made public Friday will go through in the absence of rival bids.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120225830283345881.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
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* Yahoo bid pits 2 titans in lobbying war
After sparring for two years over antitrust issues, Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. are preparing for the main event: a lobbying showdown over the fate of Yahoo Inc.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-yahoo6feb06,1,3195526.story

* A Microsoft-Yahoo! merger: good for the Internet?
The proposed acquisition would leave Google and Microsoft as the only major conduits connecting advertisers and online publishers ­ until a better search technology comes along.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0206/p01s01-usec.html

* Net Gain
[Commentary] Microsoft's bid for Yahoo might give Google some competition. But is big better than nimble?
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-ms-yahoo6feb06,1,3939400.story

* Microsoft strives for smart ad placement
Microsoft Corp.'s online advertising researchers will spend this year teaching computers to be smart about sticking ads into video clips, and to be even smarter about targeting ads to specific Web surfers.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-msftads6feb06,1,4981142.story

* Privacy groups vow to fight Microsoft-Yahoo deal
CDD and EPIC say the acquisition would raise serious privacy concerns, but the DOJ and FTC may have little grounds to oppose a Microsoft-Yahoo merger
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/01/Privacy-groups-vow-to-fight-Microsoft-Yahoo-deal_1.html

* MS + Yahoo = Antitrust bait?
The Microsoft monopoly alarm is being raised, but few will listen given Google's position in the marketplace
http://weblog.infoworld.com/enterprisewindows/archives/2008/02/microsoft_buyin.html

* Net ad growth to continue, deal or not
Microsoft's unsolicited bid for Yahoo underscores the strength of online advertising - and the confidence the market has that the relatively new industry can withstand an economic downturn. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, U.S. online ad spending grew about 25 percent through the first three quarters of last year, compared with the same period in 2006. Growth is steady in terms of dollars, though the growth rate is slowing as the size of the pie gets larger. And there's room for a lot more growth, analysts say, considering that by most accounts, the Internet accounts for less than 10 percent of all U.S. ad spending but more than 20 percent of the time Americans spend consuming media.
http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8UKERR04