Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Jerry Strikes Back, Part 2: Yahoo-AOL May Announce Merger Next Week*  —  The WSJ confirms that a Yahoo-AOL deal may be imminent.  Earlier, Rafat Ali at PaidContent had speculated that the Yahoo-Google search partnership could pave the way for a Yahoo-AOL merger announcement, perhaps as early as next week.

Owen Thomas / Valleywag:
Ashton Kutcher-backed startup Ooma is falling apart  —  Hold the phone: Voice-over-Internet startup Ooma is flailing, despite — or perhaps because of — a viral-video marketing campaign directed by Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher.  Ooma launched its product, a $400 device which offers unlimited phone calls …

New York Times:
News Corp. May Join Yahoo Bid With Microsoft  —  Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is in talks with Microsoft about joining in its contested bid for Yahoo, according to people involved in the discussions.  The combination, which would join Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN and News Corporation’s MySpace …

New York Times:
Microsoft Said to Be Talking With News Corporation About Joint Yahoo Bid  —  Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is in talks with Microsoft about joining in its contested bid for Yahoo, according to people involved in the discussions.  The combination, which would join Yahoo …

Rafat Ali / paidContent.org:
Yahoo-AOL: Will It Happen Finally?  In Advanced Talks on Combining  —  Update: Now WSJ is reporting the same thing, three hours later: that Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and AOL (NYSE: TWX) are in serious advanced talks on combining.  Under the plan being discussed, Time Warner would fold its AOL unit …

Rafat Ali / paidContent.org:
Yahoo-AOL: Will It Happen Finally?  In Advanced Talks on Combining  —  Update: Now WSJ is reporting the same thing, three hours later: that Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and AOL (NYSE: TWX) are in serious advanced talks on combining.  Under the plan being discussed, Time Warner would fold its AOL unit …

Microsoft:
Microsoft Comments on Yahoo! Announcement  —  Microsoft Comments on Yahoo! Announcement  —  REDMOND, Wash. — April 9, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) today issued the following statement from Brad Smith, Microsoft’s General Counsel, related to an announcement today by Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO):

DealBook:
Yahoo to Announce Test Partnership With Google  —  Another shot has been fired in the increasingly bitter battle between Microsoft and Yahoo.  —  The Internet company said it would begin a limited test of Google’s search advertising technology as part of efforts to remain independent from Microsoft.

Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Gartner: Windows collapsing under its own weight; Radical change needed  —  Microsoft’s Windows juggernaut is collapsing as it tries to support 20 years of applications and becomes more complicated by the minute.  Meanwhile, Windows has outgrown hardware and customers are pondering skipping Vista to wait for Windows 7.

Business Wire:
Yahoo! to Conduct Limited U.S. Test of Google’s AdSense for Search Service  —  Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, announced today that it will begin a limited test of Google Inc.’s AdSense for Search service, which will deliver relevant Google ads alongside Yahoo!’s own search results.