Jerry Yang

Yahoo's announcement this afternoon that Jerry Yang will step down as CEO is sure to spark new speculation about the possibility of a deal with Microsoft. For better or worse, Yang's initial aversion to Microsoft's acquisition offer set the stage for months of wrangling that ultimately led the Redmond company to wash its hands of the entire situation.

Microsoft had no comment this afternoon. The company has made it clear in recent months that it's not interested in attempting again to acquire all of Yahoo. However, with a new Yahoo CEO at the helm, a combination of the companies' search businesses might become more realistic, particularly with Yahoo's Google's deal recently unraveling. Adding Yahoo's search business remains a quick way for Microsoft to build market share against Google.

Then again, it's possible to make too much of today's news. After all, the entire Yahoo board was involved in evaluating and responding to the Microsoft acquisition offer. And more recently, Yang himself seemed to open the door again to the possibility of a Microsoft deal.

Yang will remain involved with the Sunnyvale, Calif., company as its "Chief Yahoo," returning to his former role. He will also remain on the company's board and participate in the search for a new CEO. Kara Swisher of AllThingsD has a copy of Yang's e-mail to employees, in which he writes, in his trademark lowercase, that "the time is now right to transition to a new ceo who can take the company to the next level."