SOFTWARE GIANT MICROSOFT CORP. AND INTERNET MEDIA COMPANY YAHOO HAVE BEEN HOLDING TALKS FOR MORE THAN A YEAR ABOUT HOW TO COMBAT THE RISING THREAT OF GOOGLE, INCLUDING A PROPOSAL FOR MICROSOFT TO BUY A STAKE IN YAHOO, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTED ON WEDNESDAY ACCORDING TO DPA. AMONG OTHER OPTIONS ON THE TABLE IS THE SALE OF MICROSOFT'S MSN ONLINE NETWORK TO YAHOO IN RETURN FOR A MINORITY STAKE IN THE INTERNET PORTAL, THE REPORT SAID. THE REPORT CAME AFTER A DISAPPOINTING EARNINGS REPORT LAST WEEK SENT MICROSOFT SHARES TUMBLING MORE THAN 10 PER CENT. THE COMPANY'S STOCK HAS LANGUISHED FOR OVER A YEAR ON INVESTOR CONCERNS ABOUT A CHALLENGE FROM INTERNET SEARCH COMPANY GOOGLE. IN OCTOBER 2005, YAHOO AND MICROSOFT ANNOUNCED THAT THEIR INSTANT MESSAGING SERVICES WOULD BE ABLE TO INTERCONNECT STARTING IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2006. LAST YEAR MICROSOFT TRIED TO INK A PACT WITH AOL, WHICH WAS A MAJOR CUSTOMER OF GOOGLE'S SEARCH SERVICES. THE PLAN FAILED HOWEVER WHEN GOOGLE PURCHASED A 5 PER CENT STAKE IN AOL FOR 1 BILLION DOLLARS.
