AdultVest, an investment bank for adult entertainment businesses, is poised to snag a little trophy at tonight's "Oscar-style" 6th Annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards. The firm, which claims to have $7 billion in available capital in its network, is nominated in the "Hedge Fund Launch of the Year" category. Their most notable acquisition is iPorn.com — in a move that's pure online speculation, they bought the domain name only, without a lick of content.

We've heard Google's Marissa Mayer is pushing hard for the company to acquire Digg. Without mentioning the social news site once, a Google News takedown in the New York Times neatly makes her case. Noting that it took Google News an hour longer than everyone else to report Tim Russert's death, the Times reports that Google News's traffic growth has been equally as sluggish:

Finland mobile device maker Nokia will acquire the 52 percent of mobile operating system-maker Symbian it didn't already own from private investors Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. and Siemens AG for $410 million. Nokia plans to turn the Symbian operating system into an open source software platform to rival Google's Android and Apple's iPhone OS X software. Symbian's 1,000 developers will join Nokia as employees and Symbian itself will continue as a non-profit foundation responsible for marketing the OS.

After a deal outsourcing search advertising to Google failed to impress shareholders, Yahoo board members — including chairman Roy Bostock — are reconsidering a deal that would outsource and sell Yahoo's search business to Microsoft instead. This according to a News.com report, which cites a single source — "one major investor who has been in contact with both parties" — and says that like Yahoo, Microsoft is also willing to renew negotiations and even "sweeten" its offer. We're skeptical.

Russian publisher Kommersant acquired half of LiveJournal parent company Sup, giving the blog operator control over its news site Gazeta.ru in exchange. Gazeta.ru editor Mikhail Mikhailin said the goal is to create “our own blogosphere." Anybody else worried what the hot air will do to the permafrost in Siberia? [paidContent]

Comcast subsidiary Fandago will acquire Movies.com from Disney for an undisclosed price. Disney doesn't expect any layoffs as a result of the deal. [paidContent]

No wonder Carl Icahn thinks that Yahoo's search advertising deal with Google has merit — turns out that his blog, The Icahn Report, uses Google to help readers search. Not that there's much content to search, as it just went live today, with an archive only going back a week to June 12. Which just happens to be the day that talks with Microsoft ended and the partnership with Google was announced. One keyword you won't be able to find with a Google-powered search of Icahn's blog? The word "Yahoo."

The acquisition of Skype has been something of an albatross around eBay's neck — what, exactly, does an auction site need voice-over-IP and chat software for? With the new release, it's starting to make a bit more sense. Not as a chat client for early-adopter technology fetishists, but as a telemarketing tool. Here's how!

While Yahoo shares hover around $23, deep inside Yahoo shareholders' hearts there is a longing for the days when Microsoft actually put a $33 per share offer on the table. The hopeful among these shareholders say that day can come again. Since a complete takeover of the Yahoo board would initiate a change in control severance package which all but precludes a renewed bid from Microsoft, these shareholders now plan to replace only board members who fought to keep Yahoo independent — specifically purple bleeders chairman Roy Bostock, Gary Wilson and Ron Burkle. “If we can handpick the ones to vote out, it might be easier,” one investor told Kara Swisher. “There are a lot of voices on that board that don’t get heard enough and need to.” Another, likely whispering in fervid tones, swathed in tattered rags and blind as a seer told Swisher: “the only thing to do now is to try to convince Microsoft to either make a better search offer and maybe even another bid and get a board in place that will welcome that overture.” (Illustration by Trevor Blake)

Microsoft has purchased Waltham, Massachusetts-based Navic Systems, which complies data from cable boxes in order for advertisers to target based on demographics and geography. Microsoft wants to build an Internet dashboard to allow marketers to purchase online display, search, videogame and TV advertising all in one place. Mostly, Microsoft wants to do this because Google, which hired NBC executive Michael Steib to sell the idea to broadcasters, wants to do this. Google cofounder Sergey Brin likes to say Google will bring the accountability of online advertising to television ad-buying, but we're not sure there are enough metrics or market demand for that to happen. TV advertisers and their agency-buyers seem to agree with us. Last we heard, only about 200 actually use Google's product.(Photo by videocrab)

Electronic Arts once again extended its $2 billion offer to buy Take-Two, the makers of Grand Theft Auto. Once again, Take-Two said no. "Their proposal still significantly undervalues Take-Two," said chairman Strauss Zelnick in a statement. [Reuters]

Can Glam Media keep up the pretense of being a way for advertisers to reach a mostly female audience much longer? The ad network has used some of its latest $85 million in debt and equity funding to acquire London-based Monetise. Monetise is an ad network that buys inventory low, aggregates it, and then sells it a bit higher — just like Glam! Except that Monetise's clients are outfits like Flixster, TVGuide.co.uk, and ArtistDirect — none of which sound like they serve overwhelmingly female audiences. The move does allow Glam to grow its raw numbers of represented sites at such a pace that clueless investors may continue funding it at ridiculously high valuations, giving Glam more cash to continue the process — until someday, somebody buys the whole thing and the founders walk away.

If you ask an investment banker, the only way Microsoft is going to compete against Google is to acquire a dying 1990s Internet brand. Gabelli & Co. analyst Christopher Marangi now wants the company to acquire AOL from Time Warner. He writes:

Despite all the reports to the contrary, Microsoft actually ended its bid to acquire Yahoo way back in April. At least, that's what Microsoft topper Kevin Johnson would have his underlings believe. "In a March 10th meeting in Palo Alto, we explained to Yahoo management the importance of reaching an agreement by the end of April," Johnson wrote in a memo.

Google's cupcake princess, Marissa Mayer, and Kevin Rose, the playboy of the Webhead world, would make an awfully cute couple. Not romantically — the two are dating other people at the moment. But we hear Mayer is pushing hard for an acquisition of Rose's Digg, for a price below $200 million. Kara Swisher hinted a few days ago that the social news site, on which users "digg" or "bury" their favorite news headlines, might be on Google's shopping list. Mayer's goal: to use what Digg has learned to fix Google News which, while popular, doesn't make Google any money. (Digg CEO Jay Adelson would not comment on the sale rumor, but did disclose that he was having a "delicious" In 'N' Out burger for lunch.)

Microsoft and Yahoo have released statements confirming reports that merger negotiations are off. In its statement, Microsoft leaves the door open for a partnership that would "ensure healthy competition in the marketplace, providing greater choice and innovation for advertisers, publishers and consumers." Yahoo, however, throws the deadbolt, saying:

The House of Mouse has swallowed San Francisco-based tips-for-living-green site IdealBite for $15 million. Heather Stephenson and Jennifer Boulden founded the site in 2005 and later took funding from former AOL exec Bob Pittman, who's also known for backing email lists Daily Candy and Thrillist. Expect more similarly small acquisitions from Disney going forward. After its $350 million Club Penguin purchase last year, Disney said it planned to acquire 20 startups in 24 months.

Want to see LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye flinch? Do what Fox Business correspondent Liz Claman did this morning and ask Nye if rival social network startup Facebook has expressed interest in acquiring the company. "It just seems like it would be a perfect for say, a Facebook, to join up, to link up with you guys," Claman advises Nye. Suddenly a happy little conversation on camera turned awkward. Did he flinch because Facebook had expressed interest? Or because, unlike Claman, he knew Facebook wasn't even sniffing around — an admission that would call into question LinkedIn's value right when Nye's gunning to take the company public? That moment, above, and the full interview — replete with Nye's nonanswers about acquisitions and IPOs — below.

Buying up billions of dollars in Yahoo shares and calling for a new board and renewed merger negotiations with Microsoft made corporate raider Carl Icahn come off daring and bold, if slightly confused. Now, with his latest later to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, Icahn just seems whiny. He begins his letter:

In a letter responding to corporate raider Carl Icahn's demands that Yahoo rescind a $2.5 billion severance package and restart merger negotiations with Microsoft, Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock writes: