It seems Yahoo is trying everything they can to keep themselves from being acquired by Microsoft, or at least put pressure on Microsoft to up to the bounty so to say. In the past few weeks, AOL/Time Warner, Google and NewsCorp have entered into the picture. Here is a brief over-view of what is happening with each company. More detailed information can be found here via Todd Bishop’s Microsoft Blog. Yahoo: Trying to avoid or sweeten Microsoft’s original offer. Testing an advertising partnership with Google. Reportedly getting close to a deal with Time Warner’s AOL unit to combine their Internet…

Last week Microsoft made an unsolicited offer to acquire Yahoo! with an initial asking price of $31/per share which was about 62% higher than the January 31st closing price. On Wednesday, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang sent an internal e-mail seeking to keep the company’s employees focused on its strategy despite the uncertainty created by Microsoft’s unsolicited acquisition bid. Also on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that a merger involving Yahoo! and Google would be unlikely due to anti-trust (only Microsoft can get away with anti-trust, at least in the US) and regulatory concerns. To add even more mystery to…