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Speaking at its investors day, Microsoft's chief financial officer Chris Liddell described Yahoo as "a declining asset".

"We made a credibly generous bid with a very high premium because we were looking for speed," Liddell said. "Time passed and value eroded. I think the chances of us buying Yahoo are so small that they are essentially negligible."

Speaking at the same event, Steve Ballmer also confirmed that Microsoft was "done" chasing the web company.

"There's nothing under discussion between the two of us. We had a set of principles, we talked about them, it didn't work out. Fine, we're done. We can move on," Ballmer told investors, before dismissing Yahoo as a competitor.

"This [web advertising] is a two-horse race," He said. "It is about Microsoft and Google."