Steve Ballmer may have billions of dollars burning a hole in his pocket, but it's not as if high-profile acquisitions are falling from the sky.

Yahoo, which has been nothing short of a headache since Microsoft launched and then abandoned its bid for the slumping internet giant, is now sending mixed signals regarding talks between the two companies for a potential partnership.

Yahoo and Microsoft began talks about a search deal earlier this month. But so far nothing has materialized from those discussions. Yet, according to a Reuters report, both Ballmer and Yahoo boss Jerry Yang have become very public about explaining their versions of why the two companies failed to agree on a merger. While Ballmer maintained that the dispute was entirely about price, Yang has said that price, though important, wasn't the only factor. Yang, who didn't elaborate beyond that, may have been alluding to the cultural differences that separate the two companies. Almost since the merger began, many industry watchers have wondered how Microsoft and Yahoo could execute on a merger, assuming price wasn't a factor. 

The question now is whether both Yahoo and Microsoft can come to terms on a partnership given the continued back and forth over the Microhoo fiasco.

Yang said that a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo would make a lot of sense, pointing out that more details needed to be fleshed out. But then he said something that might give Microsoft pause: "[the] level at which Yahoo can fully partner with Google has not been fully appreciated by the marketplace."

A potential Google/Yahoo search deal could leave Microsoft out in the cold, which is why the software giant seems to be making its own search plans. Last week, Microsoft said it would begin offering cash incentives to users as a way to catch up with Google, and this week a Microsoft executive said he planned to do all he could to "disrupt" Google.     

But neither plan -- disruption or cash -- leaves a lot of room for Microsoft to maneuver its way into the online advertising business, and if the company is looking to expand its stake in the social network race, it won't be with Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, who took on Microsoft as an investor in Facebook last year, said he has no intention of selling.