Every time AOL comes up for sale, the price drops. When Yahoo-AOL merger talks began last spring, the tentative plan was to combine Yahoo and AOL and give Time Warner $10 billion worth of stock in the new company. Since then, Yahoo has weathered both Microsoft and Carl Icahn, and AOL's advertising business — the only reason why anyone would buy it — has stalled. So while merger talks continue, Yahoo now only wants to hand over $5 billion or so in stock, reports BoomTown's Kara Swisher. One reason why the deal might actually happen?

When Yahoo's leadership first broached the idea of a merger with AOL, executives in Sunnyvale balked. But a lot of those Yahoos are gone now. Sources told Swisher that the consensus is that a merger would replenish Yahoo's executive roster and "bolster its ad business, international portfolio and email and content offerings." Which is all true, I'm sure. But instead of spending $5 billion or more on a dying brand no one remembers why they use, why doesn't Jerry Yang just buy VH1's I Love the '90s? That seems easier.

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