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Yahoo's online-advertising platform, codenamed Project Apex and now known as AMP, needs more manpower. Now a tipster tells us that management has raised the hiring bonus for new engineers on the project to $6,000. But the project's budget still needs more cash for hardware:

AMP is not a desktop app. To demonstrate its basic features AMP requires a hundred machines working together at a time, not counting the database server farms. How can they say the schedule wont slip when they have 20 percent less hardware and people they need to do the job. Working longer hours only goes so far.

One big reason they may have trouble hiring people to work on AMP: Microsoft has all but said it will scrap Yahoo's advertising systems for its own technology.