A deal may still be in the works between Microsoft and Yahoo—but not for a full acquisition of Yahoo, according to Fortune. Microsoft may be after Yahoo's search business, which the software giant needs to tackle competitor Google. Yahoo is also under investor pressure to revive talks. Its shares dropped 18% after buyout talks ended and have been falling steadily since.
“This is about the 8,000th time I’ve heard Microsoft is going to buy Yahoo,” said one jaded analyst. A major Yahoo investor told Fortune that company directors admitted they miscalculated the effect of initial negotiations and were shocked when Microsoft's Steve Ballmer bailed out. (More Microsoft stories.)