Microsoft is most certainly thinking of ways to jump back into the game after having lost out to Google in the AOL deal, and rumors are already emerging that something may already be in the works. Pcadvisor (U.K.) reports that Microsoft could be planning a partnership to rival Google's with AOL, according to a blog posting by Ian McAllister, a program manager for Microsoft's MSN division. He writes he had a meeting with "some senior players at another Tier 1 internet company," which he does not name, who expressed interest in helping Microsoft compete with Google.

Reportedly, the representative essentially said their company "would help Microsoft level the playing field with Google in search and advertising," according to McAllister.

McAllister's posting was pointed to in the Tales from the Web 2.0 Frontier blog of Richard MacManus, a Microsoft watcher who speculates that the company being referred to is likely Yahoo.

But Joe Wilcox, senior analyst with Jupiter Research, is quoted as saying the company may be an internet service provider or carrier, such as Comcast, or telecom AT&T.