And there it was in Yahoo’s second-quarter earnings call yesterday, when–as the first question–an analyst asked Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz what she thought about Bing, the new and innovative search offering from Microsoft.

“I think actually Bing is a good product,” said Bartz. “I think they’ve done a good job. I think Microsoft should be given kudos for Bing.”

It was a politic thing to say, to be sure, especially with Microsoft and Yahoo still zeroing in on a search and online advertising partnership deal, as has been previously reported by BoomTown.

Sources I have spoken to over the past two days say the deal is still on good footing and could be struck very soon, even as early as tomorrow, although it is still not a certainty–especially given the bumpy history between Yahoo and Microsoft.

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One of BoomTown’s favorite songs in the whole wide world is “Happy Talk” from the classic musical “South Pacific,” with the great lyrics: “You got to have a dream/If you don’t have a dream/How you gonna have a dream come true?”

For Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, he could use some dreaming just about now, rather than the current night sweats he is likely getting from dealing with Yahoo, which has again rejected the software giant’s unsolicited bid to take over the troubled Internet icon.

One source close to the companies told me yesterday that Yahoo has actually been speaking with Microsoft behind the scenes, despite a spate of are-they-or-aren’t-they reports of talks and non-talks.

But, apparently, the most recent whispered words this week are terse and the same: Thanks, but no thanks.

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