-- Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft was putting together a bid for Yahoo with Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm that has purchased stakes in Skype, Seagate Technology, and Avaya.

-- According to The Associated Press, companies looking to acquire Yahoo include Alibaba, of which Yahoo owns a 43 percent stake, as well as Microsoft, which offered to buy Yahoo for $47.5 billion in 2008 before withdrawing the bid.

To turn things around, Yahoo has also been looking at acquisitions and partnerships. It was one bidder for the TV and movie streaming site Hulu, although recently dropped out.

Some have also seen potential in meshing Yahoo's media assets with other online media companies, such as AOL, although when asked about it last week Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo's executive vice president for the Americas, would not comment. He did, however, talk at length about the massive reach the company has through its websites and advertising platforms, emphasizing in particular the company's focus on professionally produced video content.

Indeed, Yahoo does have a well-known brand, 178 million users every month and very popular news, finance and sports properties, reports The Los Angeles Times.