Carol Bartz

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer intends to keep the regulatory heat on Google as his company strives to lessen its rival's dominance of Internet search.

In an appearance Tuesday at a search engine conference, Ballmer said Microsoft believes Google Inc. has done things to gain an unfair advantage in the Internet's lucrative search advertising market. He didn't specify the alleged misconduct.

"We are expressing some of the issues and frustrations we see" with antitrust regulators, Ballmer said. "Sometimes (it's) unsolicited, sometimes because we have been asked."

On Thursday, Microsoft and Yahoo received something they've been waiting for since July -- a nod from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission on a search agreement that could help the companies compete with Google. With the regulatory approvals, Microsoft and Yahoo can implement the deal that calls for transitioning Yahoo's search platforms to Microsoft.

On Thursday, Microsoft and Yahoo received something they've been waiting for since July -- a nod from both the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission on a search agreement that could help the companies compete with Google. With the regulatory approvals, Microsoft and Yahoo can implement the deal that calls for transitioning Yahoo's search platforms to Microsoft.

With its stock in a three-year funk, Yahoo Inc. set out Wednesday to persuade investors that the Internet company's struggles are nearly over.

"We have fallen and we really want to get back up," Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz said as she kicked off an all-day meeting with financial analysts. "We really want to get back on our tippy toes."

Bartz vowed to make the company more profitable, and said she hoped Wednesday's session would win back some of the respect that the company lost as two previous CEOs were unable to deliver on their turnaround promises.

Activist investor Carl Icahn has decided his work is done at Yahoo Inc. after muscling his way on to the slumping Internet company's board nearly 15 months ago.

In a resignation letter Friday, Icahn said he felt like it was time to leave Yahoo so he could spend more time on his investments in other companies.

"I don't believe that it is necessary at this time to have an activist on the board of Yahoo and currently my attention is focused on other matters," Icahn wrote.

Yahoo Inc. believes a lot of its good work has been overlooked by investors and the media so it's spending more than $100 million to get the word out to consumers directly.

The money is going toward the Internet company's most expensive marketing campaign since Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo started Yahoo's Web site 15 years ago. Yahoo provided a peek at the 15-month blitz Tuesday in New York.

AOL LLC has tapped former Yahoo Inc. executive Brad Garlinghouse for a key position that is meant to beef up the struggling Internet company's presence in Silicon Valley.

Garlinghouse, 38, might be best known for calling attention to significant problems at Yahoo in a 2006 internal memo that was referred to as the "peanut butter manifesto" because it argued the Internet company had spread itself too thin.

Before the dust even settles on the news that Microsoft and Yahoo will partner on Internet searches and advertising, the U.S. government has announced plans to scrutinize the deal. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) said the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights will investigate. He is chairman of the subcommittee.

Yahoo and Microsoft on Wednesday announced a long-awaited search partnership. Microsoft will power Yahoo search and Yahoo will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers.

Yahoo and Microsoft on Wednesday announced a long-awaited search partnership. Microsoft will power Yahoo search and Yahoo will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies' premium search advertisers.