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Yahoo!, one of the leading companies in the Internet sector, has been front-page news all over the world over recent weeks. The reason: an acquisition bid from Microsoft, one that was eventually rejected.

Let's have a closer look at the facts. On 1 February Microsoft, another Internet giant, submitted a €30bn bid for Yahoo! Ten days later, on 11 February, Yahoo! rejected the bid from Bill Gates' company, arguing that it substantially undervalued Yahoo!'s real value and therefore, it was not convenient for the shareholders.

Then followed the news that News Corporation had begun conversations with Yahoo! with the objective of creating an alliance that would stop Microsoft in its tracks. The story appeared on 14 February in the US newspaper 'The Wall Street Journal', owned by News Corporation.

Whatever the facts, Microsoft's move needs to be considered in the context of the rivalry it has with Google for control of the Internet. Google, ahead of Yahoo!, is the web's main search engine.

In fact, the strength of Google has also affected Yahoo!, which has seen revenues fall and also announced that 1,000 staff (7% of the total) are to lose their jobs. However, Yahoo! is still one of the most popular portals on the Internet.