Yahoo Inc

. -- It was a tenet of faith: If you worked in Silicon Valley, Microsoft Corp. was evil. During the 1990s, Microsoft used its monopoly in computer operating systems to bully so many Silicon Valley companies that some people called it the Beast from Redmond, a reference to its headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Smaller tech players did everything they could to stay out of its way. Microsoft's current main competitor on the Web, Google Inc., still doesn't look kindly on the software giant.

It looks as if Yahoo will be dragged down the aisle by its suitor, Microsoft, no matter how loudly Google speaks its piece. On Monday, other potential mates with deep pockets denied they would try to beat Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6-billion offer even as investment bankers tried to help Yahoo remain unhitched. But Yahoo Inc.'

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. Google, which has bulked up its presence in the nation's capital, has started raising concerns about the antitrust implications of Microsoft's proposed $44.6-billion takeover of Yahoo. Analysts said it could ask regulators to stop the deal.

Yahoo Inc.'s negotiations with Google Inc. have intensified as Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang races to find alternatives to Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6-billion takeover offer, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Yang told Yahoo employees in an e-mail that the board of directors was evaluating "a wide range of potential strategic alternatives" and had "made no decisions" about the Microsoft bid, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Only 15 minutes after becoming chairman of Yahoo Inc., Roy Bostock was startled by his first order of business: how to deal with Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6-billion buyout offer. The 67-year-old Madison Avenue veteran, chosen for his marketing expertise, had barely replaced Terry Semel the evening of Jan. 31 when Microsoft made its unsolicited bid. Bostock took the news with aplomb, according to a person familiar with the events.

The last thing the world needs is another social network that lets users chat with their friends, the head of Yahoo Inc.'s mobile Internet business said. What users need is a way to keep track of all of them. "Today, most people have too many forms of communications," said Marco Boerries, senior vice president of Yahoo's Connected Life unit. "To keep in touch with all of them, you have to go to all of these different websites."

Momentum seems to be shifting toward Microsoft Corp. in its high-stakes bid to buy Yahoo Inc., analysts said Friday. Although some Yahoo shareholders have called for Microsoft to raise its offer, not all are yodeling for a much higher price. That's because nearly 90% of Yahoo's institutional shareholders, including most of the top 20, hold Microsoft stakes, according to a report released by RiskMetrics Group, a financial risk-management firm.

Yahoo Inc., owner of the most-visited U.S. website, adopted severance plans for employees that would pay as much as two years of salary to fend off a $44.6-billion bid from Microsoft Corp. Full-time employees would get at least four months of severance pay, and executive officers would get 24 months, Yahoo said Tuesday in a regulatory filing. Employees will be eligible for the payments if they depart within two years of a purchase.

Yahoo Inc. is making a fresh appeal to a key demographic: women. Launching today is Shine, a Yahoo website aimed at women between the ages of 25 and 54. It will delve into fashion and beauty, entertainment, parenting, work and other areas of interest to women. Yahoo's future is uncertain in the wake of Microsoft Corp.'s takeover bid. But the Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet giant is continuing to launch new products in pursuit of advertising dollars.

Its patience running thin, Microsoft Corp. said Saturday it would turn its $40-billion bid for Yahoo Inc. hostile and probably lower its offer if the companies don't reach a deal within three weeks. Microsoft vowed to nominate a slate of Yahoo directors who support a takeover if the deadline isn't met. The world's biggest software company also went out of its way to quash Wall Street speculation that it would raise its 2-month-old offer to seal a deal.