Yahoo's efforts to escape a takeover by Microsoft Corp received an apparent blow after reports in New York indicated that media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp was in talks with Microsoft for launching a joint bid.

The reported talks are a surprising twist in the two-month-long takeover story that began when Microsoft made a $ 44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, which contended that it will not negotiate unless Microsoft raises its offer.

Yahoo, which wants to remain independent, has been in a desperate search for white knights, holding conversations with Time Warner's AOL and News Corporation.

Internet search leader Google Inc has also agreed to help out Yahoo by participating in an unusual test to gauge how much more advertising it can sell for struggling rival.

But if News Corporation throws its weight behind Microsoft's offer, allowing the latter to raise its bid, it would put even more pressure on Yahoo and its shareholders, the New York Times said.

The talks between Microsoft and News Corporation are at a sensitive stage, the Times said, quoting people involved in the discussions. "There's a long way to go before anything is definite," one person involved in the talks said.

If the joint bid becomes successful, it would unite three of Internet's most popular websites -- Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and News Corporation's MySpace.

A Microsoft spokesman and that of Yahoo declined to offer immediate comments. A News Corporation spokesman said the company would not comment on 'speculation'.

It is also possible that News Corporation could still participate in a deal with Yahoo on its own, though the disclosure of its talks with Microsoft may complicate that relationship, the report said.