There were reports from Wall Street as of July 17th that Yahoo and Microsoft were very close to agreeing on an advertising and search deal. Although the deal is considered to be “down to the short strokes” according to All Things Digital, Yahoo and Microsoft have been down this road before and no agreement has been reached  in the past.

Both reports, from Wall Street and All Things Digital speculate that the deal would include a large, upfront payment from Microsoft to Yahoo. Wall Street sites sources that say Yahoo will get $3 billion upfront.

These reports also state that this is more than likely the end of the road for these long-running talks and if no deal is reached this time around, both search giants will go their separate ways.

Only time will tell what will be the outcome. Check back with Search Perspective on any future updates on the Yahoo and Microsoft deal.