DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

The Microsoft - Google battle was back in the headlines this week with both companies announcing acquisitions in the online advertising space and increased speculation about the future of Yahoo. On the acquisition front, Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on Tuesday that it has received approval from the European Commission for its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, the final step to completing the transaction. Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt applauded the announcement noting that "with DoubleClick, Google now has the leading display ad platform.” On Friday, Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) countered by announcing plans to acquire Rapt Inc., a provider of advertising yield management solutions for digital media publishers. Google’s stock ended down for the week at $437.92 per share. Microsoft’s stock, which saw a mid-week increase trading close to $30 per share, ended the week at $27.96 per share.

Meanwhile, senior executives at Microsoft and Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) met on Monday to discuss Microsoft’s takeover over bid. According to the Wall Street Journal, this was the first face-to-face meeting between the two since Microsoft’s unsolicited bid on January 31. The purpose of the meeting, according to WSJ sources, was for Microsoft to present its concept for a possible merged entity. To this point, Microsoft has refused to raise its bid until Yahoo allows it to more closely analyze its books. Yahoo’s stock ended the week, after a Tuesday high of $29 per share, at $26.71 per share.

It was also reported by The New York Times that Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeffrey Bewkes told the paper that he is open to a deal combining AOL with another company. "Whatever configuration makes it the strongest and the most valuable," said Bewkes. AOL reportedly has been in discussions about a possible combination with Yahoo. AOL also announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo, a social media network with a global membership of more than 40 million, for $850 million in cash. Bebo, together with AOL’s AIM and ICQ personal communications network, will increase AOL’s position in the social networking space to approximately 80 million unique users. Time Warner ended the week trading down at $14.03 per share.