Yahoo shares have now lost 60% of their value since Microsoft launched a $44.5 billion takeover bid for the ailing Web giant. Investors found temporary relief in November when the stock bounced at the news that Jerry Yang would be stepping down as Yahoo CEO. But gloom once again returned as the reality set in that finding a replacement for Yang may be even more difficult than getting him to resign. Bloomberg suggests that Yang's successor may be uncomfortable with the fact that Yang has not completely left the company. In fact, he remains "Chief Yahoo" with an office down …

The Newspaper Association of America on Friday reported yet more depressing figures for the industry-in-decline that were compounded by a 3% year-over-year drop in overall online sales. This is particularly bad because online revenue growth was supposed to offset rapid declines in print ad sales; now, the industry is reporting losses from both revenue streams. In total, online ad sales fell 3% to $749.8 million, or about 12% of total newspaper spending. Print and online declines combined to produce an 18% decrease in total third quarter spending, from $ 10.9 billion in 2007 to $.8.94 billion. What we have here …

The Economist makes the bold assertion that Internet advertising will emerge from the global recession relatively unscathed. Of course, history notes that online advertising fell 27% from 2000 to 2002 after the bursting of the dot com bubble sparked the last major economic downturn. "Yet the Web has changed a lot since 2002," The Economist claims. Online advertising is "much less speculative" than traditional advertising in the sense that performance can be tracked and ads can be targeted to specific audiences. Because of these efficiencies, marketers are starting to treat certain forms of online advertising -- particularly search -- as …

There was much buzz this weekend as the Times of London reported that Microsoft was preparing to buy Yahoo's search business in a complicated $20 billion deal involving VC investors Jonathan Miller and Ross Levinsohn, but Kara Swisher checks in with her sources, who claim the report is "total fiction." In fact, one of her sources is Levinsohn himself, who said the Times report was the first time he had ever heard of the deal. Microsoft and Yahoo sources said they hadn't heard anything, either. Meanwhile, though it seems likely that some kind of deal will be worked out between …

Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin wants to offer free, pornography-free wireless Internet service to all Americans, The Wall Street Journal reports, despite widespread objections from Internet service providers and consumer groups. The free Internet plan is the most controversial issue the agency will tackle this month; it is part of a proposal to auction of a chunk of wireless spectrum. The winning bidder would be required to set aside a quarter of the airwaves for free Internet service that could be slower and would be required to filter out pornography and other unsuitable material for children. Consumer activist …