Yahoo has nowhere to hide. The internet company’s performance under Terry Semel, and now Jerry Yang, had eroded investor confidence so deeply that the shares fell to levels not seen since 2003. It hardly seems credible that, now Microsoft has offered a premium of slightly more than 50 per cent to buy the company, investors will suddenly trust Yahoo to come up with a stand-alone plan worth more than the $29-a-share bid.

So Mr Yang has to stand and fight with the one real weapon he has: Microsoft’s fear of Google. Yahoo could threaten to outsource its search advertising to Google to boost profitability. Such an agreement would put the wind up Microsoft, potentially forcing it to raise its bid. The trouble is, if Yahoo thinks that being bought by Microsoft has a serious anti-trust risk, such a deal with Google looks even more tenuous.