Time Warner Inc. is negotiating exclusively with Google Inc. to broaden a lucrative advertising partnership with Time Warner’s America Online unit, abruptly ending negotiations early Friday with Microsoft Corp., officials close to the negotiations said.
Shutting out Microsoft sets the stage for a high-profile agreement among two titans of the Internet. Among other terms of a deal expected to be announced as early as next week, Google will highlight Time Warner Web properties as sponsored links and AOL will continue to provide Google’s search engine to its own subscribers.
