Internet exec Ross Levinsohn has called a recent Times of London report that Microsoft and Yahoo signed a $20 billion deal for the latter's search business "total fiction," according to AllThingsD.

The article said that the other key players, including Microsoft and Yahoo reps, all backed up that comment, for numerous reasons: first, no one is talking, according to both companies. But more than that, Yahoo's current total market cap is around $16 billion, so why Microsoft would pay $20 billion for just a piece of the company is beyond comprehension.

None of this means that a deal still won't go down in the future, despite what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says to the contrary, and despite the fact that Jerry Yang is finally leaving.