While The New York Times says the America Online talks are still very much up in the air, sources tell the Wall Street Journal that AOL parent Time Warner is close to securing a
partnership with Microsoft Corp. The agreement would include a joint venture in advertising services, including Internet search and online ad sales across AOL.com and Microsoft's MSN. The system it
would use for the latter is presumably MSN's AdCenter, currently undergoing beta testing overseas. The joint venture would end AOL's long-standing partnership with Google, which provides the Time
Warner unit with search technology and advertising services. Meanwhile, hedge fund investor Carl Icahn is preparing a proxy fight with the Time Warner board that he hopes will split the conglomerate
into four distinct companies--of which AOL would be one. Icahn is said to be dissatisfied with the mismanagement of the large firm and the AOL unit in particular.
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