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.