Microsoft's long, arduous, tempestuous pursuit of Yahoo is reportedly about to culminate in deal.

The companies could sign an agreement Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper and others say they've heard the latest rendition of the deal has Yahoo using Microsoft's Bing search engine on its sites and selling text ads on its own and on some Microsoft sites.

It's supposed to tickle Yahoo's share of search advertising.

Yahoo would also pocket the money it would have cost to continue to support its own search engine.

Advertising Age says the arrangement would eliminate Yahoo as a Microsoft rival and consolidate 30% of the search market on Microsoft's widgetry. Bing's early results suggest it's eating into Yahoo's market share.

Such an arrangement is a far cry from Microsoft's proposal that it take over Yahoo's search and search advertising and may be the result of antitrust concerns.

Terms are unknown. Ad Age thinks it'll be revenue-sharing rather than any big juicy upfront payment to Yahoo.

The complex talks reportedly broke down briefly last week because Yahoo wanted hundreds of millions of dollars upfront plus revenue guarantees potentially worth billions over the life of the deal.

It also wanted more revenue for search that originates on its site and leads to a purchase and for clicks on ads. And there have been issues over Bing branding and the amount of search data Yahoo would get.

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