Reuters - Ask.com, the Web search unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp, has closed an all-cash deal to acquire Lexico Publishing Group LLC, the owner of popular reference sites Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com.

Reuters - Ask.com, the Web search unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp, has closed an all-cash deal to acquire Lexico Publishing Group, the owner of popular reference sites Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp has had no new negotiations on deals involving Yahoo Inc, but preliminary talks with media companies continue, a source familiar with the software giant's thinking said on Wednesday.

AP - Unable to strike a deal on its own, Microsoft Corp. reportedly is hoping to snap up Yahoo's online search operations with the help of News Corp. and Time Warner Inc.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp is preparing a new bid for Yahoo Inc's search business and has approached other media companies about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo's breakup, the Wall Street Journal said.

AP - Yahoo Inc. shares rose more than 5 percent Wednesday as The Wall Street Journal reported Microsoft Corp. has talked to other media companies about teaming up to buy Yahoo's search business.

Reuters - Internet search company Google signed an agreement with Brazilian public prosecutors on Wednesday to help combat child pornography on its social networking site Orkut, an accord that the company believes is the first of its kind internationally.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy Powerset, a start-up that is working on a new class of Web search that relies on insights from linguistics rather than simple keyword strings.