When bad news about a company dominates the headlines, sometimes a company's PR team will craft bogus announcements to distract shareholders. Which is why today in the Wall Street Journal, you'll find that Yahoo and agency behemoth WPP announced a partnership to create "an electronic system for advertisers and Web sites to buy and sell online ad space." The deal isn't exclusive and in fact, it's a mere "extension of the technology partnership" Yahoo EVP Hilary Schneider told the Journal. Why didn't Schneider just try the old "Hey look! The space shuttle!" routine instead? That seems easier.

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