The ever-expanding Google corporation doesn't seem to care very much if people regard it as a creepy, evil monopolizer. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company has talked to "at least two" private equity firms about helping them buy Yahoo, one of its major competitors.

No serious offers have been offered, and Google might decide that taking part in such a deal needlessly interferes with gayspotting and its many other business ventures. But if it does go ahead, "[a]ny potential deal between the two biggest Internet companies would likely arouse antitrust scrutiny," as Reuters notes.

Supposedly Google isn't interested in buying and taking over Yahoo outright, but in fronting the cash monies so somebody else can. Why would it do that, given that Yahoo is a competitor? Because helping to keep your competitors in business keeps competition alive, as BusinessWeek suggests. Still, regulators might stop Google from pursuing such a deal, leaving the door wide open to other parties who have expressed interested in buying Yahoo—like the Chinese company Alibaba, Microsoft, and your mom (NYSE: MOM). Oh crap, she was gonna surprise you for Christmas and I totally forgot. Sorry, Mom.

[Reuters, WSJ. Image via AP]