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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday that online advertising business is of "keen interest" to the software giant, but refused to comment on any potential deal with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL online unit.

Microsoft and Google Inc. have each submitted proposals to AOL over the past few weeks in a bid to strike an Internet advertising partnership, according to sources familiar with the talks.

Ballmer, fielding a question from the audience at a speech in Washington, refused to comment on the deal but said that online advertising offered great potential.

"Online advertising is of keen interest to us and I have absolutely nothing to say about the AOL deal or no deal whatever," said Ballmer.

"If you ask, particularly our consumer-facing businesses, what will be the most rapidly growing revenue stream at Microsoft, it's absolutely going to be advertising."
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Read More / Source: Reuters