Yahoo's board of directors has yet to decide on Microsoft's buyout offer worth 44.6 billion dollars announced last week, Jerry Yang, CEO of the Internet search engine, said on Wednesday.

Yang said in an e-mail message to Yahoo employees that the directors were "evaluating a wide range of potential strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape."

He added that the Silicon Valley company has fired "top advisors" to assist in the process of evaluating options for its future.

Microsoft's unsolicited bid was widely seen as the latest step by the software giant to challenge Google's dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.

The offer has rocked the business world and prompted rival Google to publicly oppose to the planned merger, arguing that Microsoft was attempting to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC.

Yang said in his e-mail that "the Microsoft interest highlights the tremendous strength of the Yahoo brand and assets."

Industry analysts said that Microsoft's bid to acquire Yahoo would eventually succeed, even though the merger could be slowed down by expected anti-trust investigation, especially if a Democrat wins the current presidential election.

(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2008)