TECHNICK

They’re grinning like shot fox up at Microsoft (MSFT) today, now that the company’s advertising partnership with Yahoo (YHOO) has been cleared by antitrust regulators in Australia and Canada as well. “Microsoft and Yahoo! have been notified that Australian and Canadian authorities have separately concluded their reviews and have no objections to our proposed search agreement,” the two companies said Tuesday in a joint statement. “We continue to believe that this deal will create a true, competitive alternative in the marketplace that will benefit consumers, advertisers and publishers. We remain hopeful that the agreement will close in early 2010.” [Details to follow]