MUMBAI: Time Warner is finalising a deal with Microsoft for an online advertising service to compete with Google, reported the Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed sources.

 
As per the report, the deal will combine their advertising-related assets, with little or no money changing hands. The companies are expected to announce a deal by the third week of December.

 
 
The Journal said Microsoft and Time Warner were also negotiating to create a joint advertising sales force to sell online ads across both the AOL unit and Microsoft's MSN. Both services would remain under the control of their current owners.

 
Time Warner has been in discussions with both Microsoft and Google to sell off AOL stake. However, the talks are yet to gather steam.