San Francisco  - Internet portal Yahoo said Tuesday that it planned to cut 5 per cent of its workforce as the company struggles with the economic downturn and the dominance of Google in internet search.

Yahoo announced the job cuts as it reported quarterly income of 118 million dollars, down 78 per cent from a year ago but still above analysts' expectations. Sales for the Silicon Valley company fell 13 per cent to 1.6 billion dollars.

The company said the job cuts will affect between 600 and 700 workers, about the same number that were axed last year in an earlier bid to shore up profits.

San Francisco  - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Tuesday that he still wanted to form an alliance with Yahoo to combat the dominance of Google in search advertising.

But in his annual forecast to financial analysts of Microsoft's plans for the year, he ruled out any revival of last year's aborted deal to purchase Yahoo.

Ballmer also predicted that Microsoft would face more competition from Google and Apple in the market for computer software. He said that Google's Android operating systems for mobile phones would be converted for use in laptops.

If adhered to the reports which have come to light recently, this week could see arrival of Yahoo's long-expected reorganization under new chief executive Carol Bartz.

The reports put forward by a well known newspaper which cited sources within the company claim that revamp will probably start Wednesday, though it's likely to be rolled out in stages.

A new significant marketing officer position is expected to be created by the reorganization. It will also persuade all senior executives to report directly to Bartz.

Yahoo! announced to add variety of commercial models in its BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) service, from recently announced free-based models to revenue sharing through advertising and co-branding of sites.

David Filo, co-founder of Yahoo, in sidelines of Yahoo's Open Hack Day in Bangalore, said, "We will look at a variety of options."

Internet services major Yahoo Inc. has decided to close its Briefcase online storage service, having Web 1.0 capacity of 30MB, from March 30. The move is aimed to reduce costs by closing some operations in the midst of global financial crisis and tight liquidity conditions prevailing in the world.

The development came after the appointment of Carol Bartz as it Chief Executive, who is doing her best to control tough situation caused due to slump in online advertisement, a major source of revenue of Yahoo!

San Francisco - Troubled internet pioneer Yahoo swung to a quarterly loss Tuesday because of severance pay and write downs on its European properties.

Despite recording a 303-million-dollar loss in the fourth quarter, the company's results beat expectations as its revenues and operating profit held up well in the dire economic climate.