Microsoft in AOL Talks

Microsoft is talking to Time Warner about buying a stake in America Online, a deal that could also include AOL's using Microsoft's search engine. That would be bad news for Google, which currently provides search service for AOL, its single biggest revenue source last year. The deal, first reported by the New York Post, is still in preliminary stages. That Microsoft is talking about joining forces with AOL, once its bitter rival, shows just how badly it wants to catch up to Google in the battle for online advertising dollars. Shares of Time Warner, which have never recovered from the company's disastrous merger with AOL five years ago, rose 3% today.