Plum AOL Deal Looks Like Overture's Tell

As the clock counts down on negotiations with AOL Time Warner (AOL Quote), investors in Overture Services (OVER Quote) are struggling to guess the score.

The puzzle isn't simply whether Overture will renew its year-and-a-half-old agreement, which expires this month, for AOL to employ its pay-for-placement Internet search engine.

Rather, the uncertainty is the latest episode of an ongoing debate about whether Overture -- a fast-growing and profitable firm that sells advertisers prominent listings in its search engine -- has developed a defensible business model. The company and its supporters say Overture has developed a valuable moneymaker for Web sites that they can't easily develop on their own. ...