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Microsoft Corp. intensified talks with Yahoo Inc. as it may raise its original $31-a-share Friday in a last-minute effort to reach a friendly agreement, according to media reports.

Google Inc's top three executives had pledged to work together for 20 years in a pact they made shortly before the company's initial public offering in August 2004, Fortune magazine has reported.

The arrival of a truly mobile Web, offering a new generation of location-based advertising, is set to unleash a huge revolution, Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday.

Google Inc's planned takeover of rival DoubleClick for $3.1 billion would harm European citizens through greater intrusion of privacy, the EU's top consumer lobby BEUC said on Thursday.

Google Inc. is developing a user-generated online encyclopedia that could rival Wikipedia by allowing users to write authoritatively on subjects they are knowledgeable about and allow Google to place ads on this site.

Technology and entertainment topped Google Inc's searches in 2007, with the iPhone grabbing the No. 1 slot on a list of the fastest-rising search terms in the United States, the company said on Tuesday.

Google Inc is looking to improve the relevancy of its search results as it tests out a new feature that lets users vote for or against search results, in a way similar to selection process at community content sharing site Digg.

Google Inc is planning to expand its staff by a third, with most of the new hirings in Europe, the Financial Times reported on its Website.

Video-sharing Web site YouTube said on Wednesday that it has reached a deal with British licensing organizations that collect royalties on behalf of 50,000 composers, songwriters and publishers.

Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it will offer a free, advertising-supported version of its basic productivity software, Microsoft Works, as part of a test program with computers manufacturers.

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to modify its Windows Vista operating system in response to a complaint that its computer search function put Google Inc. and other potential rivals at a disadvantage, the Justice Department and Microsoft said on Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Friday said a complaint lodged by Google Inc. was 'baseless' as the software company was complying with a 2002 antitrust settlement.

The European Union's top security official lauded Google Inc's. decision to scale back how long it keeps personally identifiable data accumulated from its Web users as a step towards addressing privacy concerns.

A strong minority of Yahoo Inc. shareholders challenged the Web company's direction on Tuesday by voting against board-nominated directors at the annual meeting, and investors confronted Chief Executive Terry Semel.

Internet advertising sales soared 35 percent to $16.9 billion in the U.S. last year according to a study conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau noting figures from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced upgraded features to its rack mounted search appliance on Tuesday, promising improved security and performance for small to medium sized businesses.

Internet technology firm Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said that it is expanding its online catalog of searchable books today, adding more than a million books from the University of Texas at Austin to its ever expanding collection.

Google Inc. announced late last week that it has begun testing its new radio advertising service, a move that represents the company's most elaborate attempt to expand its operations beyond the Internet.

AOL on Wednesday plans to launch a new version of its software that lets users access their e mail, instant messaging, search and media on the same screen.

Online video is no longer just fun and games: You might actually learn something.

Google Inc. released new updates for Google Earth on Wednesday allowing users to place overlays on top of it s popular earth viewing software.

Google Inc., the world's biggest Internet search engine, said on Wednesday it is opening the Japanese-language version of its email service to anyone who wants to sign up.

The University of California is joining Google Inc.'s book-scanning project, throwing the weight of another 100 academic libraries behind an ambitious venture that's under legal attack for alleged copyright infringement.

News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media and Google Inc. said on Monday they have signed a multi-year search and advertising deal covering Fox's MySpace.com and other properties.

Google Inc. on Wednesday said it struck a deal with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. to help the search engine's advertisers automatically insert ads on XM's nonmusic radio channels.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said the company was adopting voluntary principles to guide development of its flagship Windows operating system, which will include allowing computer manufacturers to set Google and other non-Microsoft search engines as a default.

Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said on Friday that his company had none of the stock option pricing problems that have been uncovered at nearly 60 other U.S.-listed companies.

Google Inc. is committed to doing business in China despite criticism the company has faced for abiding by Chinese government censorship restrictions, co-founder Sergey Brin said this week.