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Having walked away from Yahoo, Microsoft is supposedly eager to buy a passel of online-advertising startups. Los Angeles-based Spot Runner is a natural target; it uses Microsoft technologies, has hired Microsoft executives, and was founded by Nick Grouf, who sold a startup to Microsoft a decade ago. Spot Runner's business, creating and placing ads on hard-to-buy, hard-to-sell cable-TV spots, is an area where Google is not at all entrenched. But we now hear a rumor that Microsoft's board has nixed a $550 million deal for Microsoft to buy Spot Runner. Spot Runner just raised $51 million in venture capital, which makes the price tag seem plausible, if hard for Microsoft to swallow. Why the deal fell apart at such a late stage, and in such an embarrassing way — it's rare for boards to oppose management on deals of this size — are unknown. Heard anything more? Spot us a tip.