Analysts: Microsoft likely eyeing Yahoo search assets

withdrawal, Yahoo's stock closed down 15 percent at $24.37, after dropping as low as $22.97 during the day.

Not surprisingly, various large Yahoo shareholders have expressed their displeasure with Yahoo's board and management for, in their view, not negotiating in good faith with Microsoft and causing the talks to collapse.

Yahoo co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang and other top Yahoo executives have since then tried to shift the blame to Microsoft, alleging that the $33-per-share offer was never put in writing and that Microsoft unexpectedly walked away at a time when Yahoo was still open to negotiating.

At the same time, Yang has failed to seal a deal in which Yahoo would outsource part of its search advertising business to Google, a move that could give Yahoo a significant revenue boost. Those negotiations with Google were cited by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as a major reason to withdraw the offer because, in Ballmer's view, outsourcing search ads to Google would weaken Yahoo's competitive position in online advertising.

After Microsoft withdrew its offer, its top officials have repeatedly said that the company is no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo, arguing that Microsoft can strengthen its Internet business via internal efforts. On Sunday, Microsoft reiterated that it "is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo at this time." However, Microsoft did add that it "reserves the right to reconsider that alternative."