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Nov. 7, 2005 10:30 PM
A report in The New York Times yesterday suggests that "Microsoft has emerged as the front-runner in the talks surrounding the potential sale of a stake in America Online."
"When Time Warner released its quarterly earnings last Wednesday," the Times reports, "its chairman and chief executive, Richard Parsons, for the first time acknowledged the talks but tried to dampen expectations."
In the most important part of the report, the newspaper's Richard Siklos writes:
"Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, said last week in a meeting with reporters and editors at The New York Times that his interest in AOL is about playing a greater role in the future of advertising."
The newspaper did not have any further news on whether Google, which provides the Web search on AOL's services, and manages the advertising related to it, has made any further progress in its own talks with AOL Time Warner about taking a stake in America Online.
About Jeremy GeelanJeremy Geelan is President & COO of Cloud Expo, Inc. and Conference Chair of the worldwide
Cloud Expo series. He appears regularly at conferences and trade shows, speaking to technology audiences both in North America and overseas. He is executive producer and presenter of Cloud Expo's "Power Panels" on SYS-CON.TV.