But on Tuesday, TechCrunch cited sources saying talks between the two were back on, albeit at a lower price than its original $33-a-share offer. Meanwhile, CNBC reported that no deal was in the works, though Microsoft was still interested in Yahoo's search business.
Microsoft's pursuit of Yahoo appeared to be over earlier this month when the software giant said it was no longer interested in a takeover after final talks collapsed. Yahoo's board also decided against a Microsoft proposal to acquire only Yahoo's search business. The cleared the way for Yahoo's subsequent search outsourcing deal with Google.
Rumors about a possible Yahoo-Microsoft pushed Yahoo's stock up almost 3% to $22.04 Tuesday.