Kara Swisher reports that top Microsoft executives are in Silicon Valley ironing out what looks to be the final details of a search and online advertising deal between Yahoo and the Redmond, Wash. giant. If all goes according to plan, a deal will be announced within the next week, sources at both companies said. Terms of the deal are still fuzzy, but Swisher says she's heard from all sides that they include Microsoft paying Yahoo several billion dollars to take over its search advertising business while guaranteeing certain payments back to the Sunnyvale, Calif. Web giant. There …

The unsavory back-and-forth between TechCrunch and Twitter continues. Earlier this week, the influential tech blog earlier published internal Twitter documents obtained by a hacker. TechCrunch then forced Twitter into negotiations over which information it would publish. On Thursday, TechCrunch claimed it received the "green light" from Twitter to publish some internal business discussions. Twitter then promptly responded, via its CEO Evan Williams' Twitter stream: "we absolutely did not give permission for these documents to be shared." Several hours later, TechCrunch made no response. Valleywag decided to call up Michael Arrington for comment, but he said he wouldn't comment on the …

Analysts and industry watchers are looking to Google's second quarter earnings for signs of a rebound in the broader ad market, Peter Kafka says. What makes Google, which depends on search advertising for 99% of its revenue, an indicator of the overall ad market? According to Kafka, the fact that marketers can buy Google ads instantaneously and without the haggling and lead-time traditional ads require, means that Google advertisers will be quickest to either return or ramp up their spending. In any event, anyone looking for signs of a rebound in Google's second quarter earnings call, which …

In his short tenure as MySpace CEO, Owen Van Natta has proven to be good for a few choice sound bites. In June, Van Natta referred to laid off employees (MySpace actually cut nearly half its global staff) as "bloat." Now, in his latest memo to the troops, obtained by TechCrunch, Van Natta tells it like it is, again. "Our users don't know if we're a social portal, a music site, or an entertainment hub," he writes. Well, "neither do we," says TC's Michael Arrington. The former No. 1 social network on the Web always described itself as …

Apple this week released a software update to its iTunes media store that blocks rival Palm Inc.'s Pre smart phone from accessing it. The update "disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods," an Apple spokesperson said. Apple regularly updates its iTunes software, prompting users to download the new versions whenever they access iTunes. Palm's Pre had been able to access iTunes since going on sale in the U.S. in early June, but The Wall Street Journal notes that it was always unclear whether the Pre was doing so with Apple's permission. The new update is seen as a …

CBS Corp., Time Warner, Inc. and several other media companies will participate in a Web-TV trial with cable operator Comcast Corp. later this month. Their aim is to make more TV shows available online, but only for subscribers of Comcast's cable service. The idea here is to preserve a lucrative business model for content producers at a time when some viewers are canceling their cable subscriptions to watch free TV on the Web. It's also part of a broader push by media companies to put more ads inside Web videos. According to the Wall Street Journal, Web versions …

In an interview with TechFlash, Wired Editor Chris Anderson, author of the new book "Free," argues that despite the emergence of Google and other champions of free software and services, that there is still a place for traditional operating systems and productivity software that sell for $250. In other words, "you can compete with free," he says, but in the end you're not actually selling software, you're selling "convenience, risk-reduction, peace of mind, a contractual promise. You're selling something that people value." Take iTunes, for example. People use Apple's media store "because it's easier and safer and faster …

Gates said it was hard to really say much about Chrome OS, since Google has said so little about how it will actually work. "There's many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways," Gates said. "In some ways I am surprised people are acting like there's something new. I mean, you've got Android running on Netbooks. It's got a browser in it." Gates challenged the notion -- championed by Google -- that the browser needs to act more like an operating system. He said the browser …