Microsoft and Yahoo have been holding separate talks with other potential media partners after their negotiations with each other broke down, sources familiar with the companies' thinking said on Wednesday. Microsoft -- rebuffed this year in efforts to buy all of Yahoo and then just its search business -- is talking about alternative deals with Time Warner, which owns AOL, and News Corp, parent of MySpace, a source close to Microsoft said, but any negotiations remain in preliminary stages. Meanwhile, talks have continued for months between Yahoo and Time Warner over a potential merger of AOL with Yahoo to create a more formidable advertising and media player, but they are no closer to a deal, a source close to the matter said. Shares of Yahoo jumped as much as 9 percent on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that...
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