Tech Roundup: Yahoo delays annual meeting

Yahoo postponed its meeting on Thursday, which had been slated for July 3, delaying a proxy contest with activist investor Carl Icahn for control of its board. Icahn, who like many shareholders is upset with the company's handling of Microsoft's last offer of $47.5 billion for the company, has nominated a slate of candidates to replace Yahoo's current directors.

The delay gives Yahoo more time to put together a defense against Icahn or negotiate a sale to or alternate deal with Microsoft.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Yahoo is pushing the meeting back to an undetermined date in late July.

In March, Yahoo postponed its annual meeting, gaining more time to explore alternatives to Microsoft's buyout bid. That bid was withdrawn this month when the two parties could not agree on a purchase price.

Also this week, Microsoft began showing how it intends to take on Google Inc. in the wake of its failed bid for Yahoo, as it started offering cash rebates to people making purchases after using its search engine.

In a plan revealed Wednesday, online shoppers who sign up for an account and buy items they find with Microsoft's Live Search cash back Web site will get a percentage of the purchase price deposited into their account.

When a shopper's account total climbs to $5, they can redeem the cash through eBay Inc.'s PayPal.

Lehman Brothers analyst Doug Anmuth said in a client note that while he initially dismissed the plan as "another attempt to buy search share," he now thinks it "could gain some traction in the near term-and even potentially take a modest amount of share."

Still, over time he thinks users will go for the search engine with the best user experience, relevant search results and best product innovation--which he thinks is Google.