Previewing the teams involved in the Google-sponsored Lunar X prize, Google co-founder Sergey Brin told the Associated Press following the event that he found the prospect of Microsoft owning Yahoo “unnerving.” Meanwhile, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, according to Charles Cooper at CNET, is “girding for the certainty of a coming proxy war with Microsoft.”

Microsoft is reportedly shopping around for an alternative slate of Yahoo board candidates for that very proxy war. Key to a hostile takeover is Microsoft installing a sympathetic board that will accept its offer for the company.

Kara Swisher at AllThingsD points out, however, that Microsoft may not find many high-profile Silicon Valley types willing to play given Microsoft’s status as an “outsider” in the Bay Area.

Related Topics: Microsoft & Yahoo Search Deal

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling