Tech blogger Robert Scoble says that everyone has missed the key points about how a Microsoft-Yahoo merger would affect Google. Far from being afraid of a Microhoo, Google would welcome this merger with open arms. Indeed, Google's recent claim that the merger is "troubling" is just delaying tactics, as "every month longer that this deal takes is tens of millions in Google's pockets." Scoble says the real race here is for ownership of the mobile phone, an area that all three companies are moving into aggressively. But what happens to Microsoft and Yahoo's mobile efforts while they're …

Microsoft revealed it would finance a portion of its $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo. This would mark the first time in history that Microsoft would borrow money to fund an acquisition -- if the deal goes through. Microsoft believes Yahoo's board will agree to the takeover relatively quickly, but Yahoo over the weekend said it would take "quite a bit of time" to mull all of its option, including staying independent. Meanwhile, several major publications cite sources who claim that Yahoo was considering a business alliance with Google that would allow the Web giant to remain independent and stave …

The key to making a Microsoft-Yahoo deal work is to combine all or at least parts of the companies' ad delivery systems as soon as possible. Otherwise, Google will be able to take advantage of the halt in progress. Further down the priority list, Yahoo's email should be merged with MSN's Hotmail, a marriage that would give the combined company more than 600 million users. Whereas the email services could co-exist separately for a while, the ad delivery systems cannot. That's a big reason the merger has been received so warmly, for the most part. It could …

Yahoo, in the wake of Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid, is considering ways to better monetize its investment in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan--the idea being to appease shareholders inclined to accept Microsoft's offer. Does this mean Yahoo is trying to stave off Microsoft's advances? Or does it mean the Web giant is simply trying to unlock more value prior to an inevitable sale? The latter is more likely. Sanford Bernstein analyst Jeff Lindsay estimated last month that Yahoo's Asian assets were worth a combined $17.6 billion, or $13.24 per share, which at the time represented 55 percent …

News Corp. yesterday reported that advertising sales on MySpace, the Web's No. 1 social network, surged 87 percent in the fourth quarter, "primarily due to revenue growth for search and advertising," the company said. Fox Interactive Media, the conglomerate's online division, is now on pace to reach $1 billion by the end of 2008. Operating profit showed exponential growth, up from $1 million in 2006 to $23 million in 2007. Impressive stuff, but MySpace partners and advertisers aren't seeing the kind of results they were promised. Even Internet ad giant Google, which struck a guaranteed $900 million …