Dulles, Va. - As discussions continue about the possible sale of all or part of AOL, owner Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) revealed that advertising at the unit has slowed significantly in recent weeks, Bloomberg reported.

John Martin, Time Warner's CFO, said that ad revenue has fallen across several categories, including autos, telecommunications and travel.

"It had been growing like a weed,'' Martin told a media conference.

"We have seen some cancellations. It gives us pause in terms of our confidence to ramp advertising in the back half of the year.''

Reports surfaced in July that Time Warner was on the verge of a deal to sell AOL to either Yahoo or Microsoft, both looking to more seriously challenge Google in the online advertising space.

Martin said Time Warner continues to "evaluate whether there's something that could be done with AOL."

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