Would a rose by any other name smell sweeter?

Silicon Valley Insider found this site over the weekend: BlindSearch. It compares search results in a blind test, then reveals which search engine the results came from: Microsoft's Bing, Google or Yahoo. The site says it was built by Microsoft employee Michael Kordahi as an experiment.

Kordahi previously posted the survey results but says on the site that someone was gaming the system and he had to take it down.

Microsoft rebranded its search engine as Bing last week, and many company executives kept repeating that in their market research, customers who were given Microsoft search results disguised as Google results preferred Microsoft search.

Try it yourself.

We will be liveblogging Microsoft's third-quarter earnings call tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. so come back, click in and share your thoughts on the tech giant's report card.

Here's what to look for in the earnings call. Analysts are expecting a weak quarter as the general state of the economy has pressured businesses to pull back on IT spending.

It did not help that Microsoft declined to provide any financial guidance for this quarter in its last call, when it announced it planned to cut 5,000 jobs between then and 2010.

First Call has put analyst profit estimates at about 39 cents per share, or $14.2 billion, compared with 47 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Sid Parakh, analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen, is expecting earnings to come in below that. "We cited weakness in enterprise spending as well as the factor of netbooks that you might want to consider," he said. Microsoft has been selling a version of Windows XP for the low-cost laptops, but the company makes less than what it would for a copy of Windows installed on a desktop PC.

Parakh has done a round of checks and believes the company could be preparing for another round of deeper cuts. He recommends paying close attention any time someone says "enterprise spending," "netbooks" and "operating expenses."

Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, said he also expects a "pretty down quarter." He's seen evidence that the company is offering special deals on its enterprise software such as SQL, Exchange and Sharepoint, and offering incentives to large companies to renew their agreements. "Typically at Microsoft they don't offer a lot of deals," he said.

Still, Rosoff said most financial analysts have already accounted for lowered spending: "I don't know that Microsoft is going to disappoint them by missing."

We will also be listening for anything related to search, given all the talk about a Microsoft-Yahoo search partnership in the works.

We doubt that CEO Steve Ballmer and CFO Chris Lidell will drop any f-bombs, as Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz did on the company's earnings call Tuesday.

More background reading:

• Apple just reported better year-over-year results in its earnings> Here's Ars Technica
's account.

• AllThingsD reports Microsoft and Yahoo partnership talks are intensifying down in Silicon Valley.

• Silicon Alley Insider reports Xbox is bundling two free games with the video game console.

• LiveSide says Web instant messaging is finally coming to Hotmail.

• TechCrunch has the latest search traffic stats for the first quarter that show Microsoft losing 1.1 percent over the same period last year.

• New York Times says Yahoo may be planning more layoffs.

• Mary-Jo Foley at ZDNet is speculating on plans for a Zune phone, code named Pink, to compete with iPhone.

Microsoft will offer 30,000 vouchers for free software training to help people in Washington get learn how to use Microsoft software.

Gov. Chris Gregoire and Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith made the announcement this morning at a press conference at the YWCA Opportunity Place in downtown Seattle. Microsoft first announced its job training program, Elevate America, in February and Washington is the first state to roll it out.

"We have thought long and hard about how do we come out of this deep recession stronger and better prepared for the 21st century," Gregoire said.

Both employed or unemployed people are eligible for the vouchers, which can be used to take online courses, worth $100 to $300, or certification testing, which is worth $85. Click here to sign up between now and May.

Vouchers expire in July. People will need an Internet-connected computer to access the training. People without computers can get access to one at centers such as the YWCA's Opportunity Place.

"It will help people who are unemployed get skills needed to get their next job, and it will help people employed to keep their jobs and get the skills they need," Smith said. He estimated the economic value of the vouchers at $3 million at the low end.

In separate news, Smith declined to comment on reports that Microsoft and Yahoo are talking about a search partnership.

He also said there has been no change in outlook on layoffs at Microsoft. The company still plans to cut 5,000 total jobs through 2010, including the 1,400 announced in January. Smith also said the company still plans to create 2,000 new jobs in that period.

After a fairly quiet few weeks following the one-year anniversary of Microsoft's bid to buy the Internet giant, a couple of reports in the past day or so, plus an utterance from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, have stirred the Microsoft-Yahoo pot. Let's start with facts and move on to speculation and unnamed sources.

Ballmer, during a strategic update meeting with Wall Street analysts, discussed the broader Internet search market, the tall order his company faces against Google and his continuing hope of joining forces in some manner with Yahoo:

Qi Lu, the Yahoo executive lured by Steve Ballmer to head Microsoft's Online Services Group, was awarded 390,422 shares of company stock Wednesday, according to this SEC filing. The shares will vest as follows over the next four years: "20% on January 5, 2010, 20% on January 5, 2011, 20% on January 5, 2012, and 40% on January 5, 2013, subject to continued employment." At Wednesday's closing price of $19.21 a share, the award is worth $7.5 million. Lu owned 200 shares before the award, according to a separate SEC filing.

Carol Bartz, Yahoo's new CEO, was peppered Tuesday with questions about a potential search deal with Microsoft or another go at partnering with AOL-Time Warner. Here are some of her choice exchanges with financial analysts during a conference call after the Internet company reported a loss in the fourth quarter.

ComScore's U.S. Internet search share report shows the major players had were little changed in December. Google is still the leader, far and away, with 63.5 percent of the market, unchanged from November. Yahoo, according to comScore, gained a smidge to 20.5 percent. Microsoft continued along in third place with 8.3 percent.

Meanwhile, The New York Times and Valleywag report on a meeting in New York City earlier this week between Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock. This follows an informal discussion between Ballmer and Yahoo's new CEO, Carol Bartz, at some point since she was picked for the post by the Yahoo board.

These high-level contacts have of course fueled speculation that Yahoo and Microsoft are working toward some sort of search deal.

Carol Bartz is the new CEO of Yahoo, effective immediately, according to a news release the Internet giant released this afternoon.

AUTODESK

Carol Bartz, reportedly the next Yahoo CEO.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo, after a two-month search, has a new chief executive. Jerry Yang's replacement will be Carol Bartz, former CEO of Autodesk, the paper reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

[Update, 2:55 p.m.: It's official.]

The installation of a new CEO at Yahoo sets the stage for a possible resumption of deal talks between Microsoft and Yahoo. Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the Financial Times,

"We now have someone in place running our online business [Qi Lu, a former Yahoo search exec who started at Microsoft last week], and Yahoo's out looking for a CEO.

"If a search deal is to be made, it's probably to be made in the interim period for new leaders in both places."

If this comes to pass, it's a great scoop for Tech Crunch: The Web site is reporting on a complex proposal by "well known Silicon Valley executives and top investment bankers" to seek financing from Microsoft for a purchase of Yahoo. They would immediately sell Yahoo's search business, which Microsoft has coveted publicly for nearly a year now, to Microsoft and install a new executive team to operate Yahoo.

[Update, 2:09 p.m.: A Microsoft spokesman said the company is not commenting on the report.]

Check out this profile of Qi Lu, the former Yahoo search executive who is taking over a critical group at Microsoft in January, from today's paper. Also, after the jump, Microsoft has published its own Q&A with Lu, covering his reasons for coming to Microsoft, how Steve Ballmer recruited him, what opportunities he sees for Microsoft in search and more.

If Microsoft has to climb over or through Yahoo to get to Google in the Internet search business, there are few people better positioned than Qi Lu to lead the way.

Named last week as president of Microsoft's Online Services Group, Lu brings with him practically the entire history of Yahoo's search efforts.

"Qi was there from the very beginning," said a former Yahoo colleague who worked closely with him for several years and agreed to speak about Lu and his role at Yahoo only on condition of anonymity.

Fishbowl Los Angeles reports that up to 1,500 Yahoo employees will be cut tomorrow, according to an employee who read an internal e-mail from Yahoo's co-founder and lame duck CEO Jerry Yang.

(Note, this paragraph was lopped off an earlier version this post.)

Microsoft has been vacuuming up Yahoo talent -- particularly in search and most notably with the plucking of Qi Lu -- and is eager to do more.

MICROSOFT

Qi Lu, highest ranking Chinese American in Microsoft history.

Chinese Americans at Microsoft and in the community cheered the appointment of Qi Lu as president of the company's Online Services Group, noting the significance of his arrival at the highest ranks of the company.

"When people look at their own career potential in a company, they always look at if there is someone like them in the senior leadership team," said Weina Wang, chairwoman of Chinese Microsoft Employees (CHIME), the largest company-sponsored diversity group, with 2,500 members. "And I think Lu's joining Microsoft is definitely a huge encouragement, from a career-development perspective, for all the Chinese and Asian employees."

With one of its top search executives now in the Microsoft fold, Yahoo is putting on a brave face. A statement from spokeswoman Kim Rubey reads:

"Qi Lu was a valued Yahoo who made important contributions during his time with us. We wish him every success in his career. Yahoo! remains committed to algorithmic and sponsored search, with a strong search technology team that includes some of the industry's brightest engineers."

MICROSOFT

Meet the new boss: Former Yahoo Qi Lu to lead Microsoft Online Services Group.

Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Microsoft Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group, is leaving the company, Microsoft said in a statement.

Updates throughout at 1:59 p.m.

Is Microsoft acquiring Yahoo's search business one person at a time? It looks that way, if Kara Swisher is right about Qi Lu taking the top online spot at Microsoft. Lu spent 10 years at Yahoo rising to senior vice president of engineering for for search and search marketing.

Jonathan Miller, one of the two would-be leaders named in the weekend's widely discredited Yahoo story from The Sunday Times of London, is again in the headlines. This time, the former AOL CEO is said to be drumming up investors to purchase all or part of Yahoo, according to unnamed sources quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

Jeffries analyst Youssef Squali trimmed his price target on Yahoo to $20 from $23 a share, citing lower online ad spending growth. Via AP.

eMarketer on Monday revised its online advertising outlook, reducing its forecast for the current year from $24.9 billion in the U.S. to $23.6 billion. The market research firm noted that's still 11.3 percent growth over 2007. By category, eMarketer predicts online display advertising -- Yahoo's bread and butter -- will see significant slowing in growth. The category, underpinned by struggling retail and automotive advertisers, was forecast in August to grow 16.9 percent this year. eMarketer has trimmed that forecast to 3.9 percent.

Paid Internet search advertising will also see growth slow, but it is forecast to outpace the broader online advertising market. Search advertising is expected to grow 21.4 percent this year and 14.9 percent next year.

Microsoft held stead in October with 8.5 percent of the U.S. Internet search market, according to figures released today by comScore. Its rivals, Google and Yahoo, both gained slightly from their September positions.

Meanwhile, Fortune has taken a stab at answering the question, "Why can't Microsoft make money online?"

You've likely already heard this, but I wanted to make mention of it here, too: Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang announced that he's stepping down today.

At 7 a.m. today, Google announced on its official blog that it was scrapping its partnership with Yahoo on search advertising:

"[A]fter four months of review, including discussions of various possible changes to the agreement, it's clear that government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement. Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners. That wouldn't have been in the long-term interests of Google or our users, so we have decided to end the agreement."

Salesforce.com, the software as a service company that loves to put Microsoft's business model in its cross hairs, today announced a Web hosting service for enterprise clients called Force.com Sites. It was one of several Salesforce announcements Monday, including partnerships with Amazon.com and Facebook, all of which elevate the company's cloud computing offerings as competition for these services continues to intensify. (See Microsoft's cloud platform expansion from last week.) Here's coverage from Reuters.

Update, 2:42 p.m. Thursday: Turns out Bloomberg got its figures wrong, mistaking August numbers for July. So, where this post originally said Microsoft's Internet search share declined from August to September, it actually increased a bit.

Microsoft's share of the Internet search market in the U.S. declined again increased slightly in September, according to stats released today by comScore and reported here by Bloomberg.

Yesterday, Jim Cramer, CNBC's bombastic Mad Money stock picker, answered a viewer's question about rumblings that Microsoft may make a play for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. Here's Cramer's take:

"I just think categorically it's not true. if it happens, I'm just dead wrong. ... I don't think Microsoft, after what it did with Yahoo, is going to be in there buying anybody."

Mithras Capital, which owns 0.14 percent of Yahoo, has floated a proposal for Microsoft to buy the floundering Internet giant for $22 a share, according to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg. That would be a 74 percent premium to Yahoo's Thursday closing price of $12.65, but still significantly below the $31-a-share stock and cash offer Microsoft made for the company Feb. 1.

American Technology Review analyst Rob Sanderson issued a research note today cutting his price target on Yahoo from $33 a share to $22 a share. Sanderson said that combined with Microsoft's continued struggles in its online services business could lead the software giant to bid for Yahoo again. Reuters reports that Bank of America analysts also cut their target for Yahoo shares from $24 to $16.

Yahoo shares were down 5.5 percent, to the $13.70s in mid-day trading on the Nasdaq.

KEN LAMBERT/THE SEATTLE TIMES

Chapple in 2005.

Yahoo tapped local wireless industry mover John Chapple to fill one of two new seats on its board of directors, culminating a deal the Internet company negotiated with Carl Icahn to avoid a proxy fight. The second new board seat goes to Frank Biondi Jr., a media mogul.

After its shareholder meeting today, Yahoo released results of voting for its board of directors. All the director candidates were running unopposed, but the number of votes withheld was viewed as a measure of shareholders' displeasure.

The Yahoo shareholders who spoke at the company's meeting in San Jose today were not particularly interested in raking the company's board of directors over the coals for its handling of Microsoft's acquisition offer. In fact, several who spoke praised the board and were glad that it held off Microsoft. In the quote of the day, one man, who said he owns 1,200 shares, along with his wife, described Microsoft as "a corporation-destroying, over-the-hill, green tentacled octopus from Redmond." Zing.

For much of the spring and early summer, Yahoo's shareholder meeting loomed as the potential defining moment in Microsoft's battle to take control of the company and its valuable online properties. At one time, Microsoft was planning a proxy fight and was lining up its own set of Yahoo director candidates. Then billionaire investor Carl Icahn proposed his slate and began campaigning hard against the incumbent directors. The presumption was that Icahn's directors would be amenable to a Microsoft deal.

Tomorrow's meeting would have been the chance for Yahoo shareholders to vote, essentially, to sell the company or continue independent of Microsoft (the path Yahoo management has taken). But it turns out that the meeting will likely have none of that drama, which is not to say it won't have drama.

The week is under way and another batch of Yahoo reorg rumors is fresh out of the oven. A friend shared with us something diverting among all the doom and gloom.