After all the drama since January, when it finally looked like it was all over and done with, comes news that a Capital Research, a major Yahoo shareholder, has asked Broadridge Financial Solutions, which transmitted the votes to Yahoo, to take a closer look at Yahoo's recent shareholder vote and examine it for mistakes.

Microsoft announced that PSD President Kevin Johnson will be leaving the company. Microsoft Corp. also announced that the Platforms & Services Division (PSD) will be split into two groups: Windows/Windows Live and Online Services, with both groups reporting directly to CEO Steve Ballmer.

How is Google faring in this ailing US economy? Google’s earnings growth for the second quarter was a disappointment for investors, raising fears that the online search leader has finally stumbled.

Yahoo! Inc. confirmed that it has rejected, again, a joint proposal from Microsoft Corporation and Carl Icahn for a complex restructuring of Yahoo! that would include the acquisition of Yahoo!'s search business by Microsoft. Yahoo!

Yahoo (YHOO) call options have seen two days of brisk trading. Some of Tuesday's volume was tied to a substantial ratio spread, which involved the purchase of 70,000 YHOO October 25 calls and the sale of twice as many October 27.5s. The spread is a directional bet for a move higher, and one that yields its best profits if YHOO settles at $27.50 at October options expiration.

Carl Icahn has issued a letter to yahoo shareholders detailing the summary of his talks with Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer. Here's an excerpt from the letter. During the past week I have spoken frequently with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. However, Steve made it clear to me that if a new board were elected, he would be interested in discussing a major transaction with Yahoo!...

The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is talking to Time Warner Inc. and News Corp., among others, about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo's breakup. Microsoft, along with other allies like Time Warner Inc. and News Corp., each buy a piece of Yahoo! Inc. Microsoft gets the search business, and the others get bits and pieces of other Yahoo assets.

Taking the offensive in the bitter proxy war, Yahoo Inc. on Monday portrayed Microsoft Corp. as an "inconsistent" negotiator that did not appear to be fully committed to a marriage.

Yahoo's employees are jumping ship, but reports coming in now indicate that its not just a 'natural flow', but has been triggered and is being actively encouraged by certain actions on the part of both Yahoo & Microsoft, and I'm not talking about the ill-fated buyout.

San Jose Mercury News reports that Flickr founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield are the latest in a string of executive resignations at Yahoo! Inc. Among the executives who have left or will leave soon are Jeff Weiner, the executive vice president of Yahoo's network division, and Usama Fayyad, the chief data officer and executive vice president of research and strategic data solutions.

It is final, Google (goog) has official one the search engine race. Some people might think they had already won it, but with the announcement from Yahoo today that it will begin running even more Google ads with it search results, it's over.

Yahoo! Inc. has just announced that talks between it and Microsoft Corp. for a full or search limited buyout by Microsoft have ended with Microsoft refusing to go for a full buyout of Yahoo! Inc. and Yahoo refusing a sale of its search division to Microsoft. Excerpts from the press rlease below, and more updates coming later.

So Yahoo! Inc. posted an FAQ on its internal intranet site for Yahoo! employees on June 10, 2008, explaining its position and thinking with regards to the 'Change in Control Employee Severance Plans'. The full letter, along with some additional answers from me.

Icahn states that he will terminate the faux severance plan if he gains control and asks Bostock to "stop dancing around the subject and publicly offer to sell the company to Microsoft for $34.375 per share and promise to cooperate completely."

Yahoo!