The Times of London report on Sunday, saying that Microsoft has resumed its talk to buy Yahoo’s search business for $20 billion, apparently “has no basis in fact.” The report, which cited no sources, also said executives at both companies had agreed to the broad terms of a deal.

However, a blog post by the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital - owned by News Corp - has termed the report “total fiction.” The blog pointed out that the deal is questionable as Yahoo’s entire market cap is only $16 billion.

Moreover, sources at Yahoo and Microsoft, said they “scoff at such a deal now taking place or that either side has been in any such discussions of late.” An executive at one of the firms who requested anonymity told The Chronicle on Sunday that there are no current talks between the two companies.

Yahoo and Microsoft had had on-again, off-again talks over several months earlier this year about a $47.5 billion takeover, and later a proposal focused only on Yahoo’s search business. But, discussions regarding both scenarios collapsed without an agreement.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said repeatedly that he is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo, but that he is open to some sort of partnership involving their respective search businesses. There has also been speculation that Ballmer is waiting for the new CEO at Yahoo to initiate discussions of a fresh deal. Ballmer is once reported to have said that Yang was an impediment to striking a deal with Yahoo.

While Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, declined to comment on the Times’ report; Brad Williams, a Yahoo spokesman, said: “We don’t comment on rumors.”