Microsoft Offers $44.6B for Yahoo

Now here’s something to add a little speculation to Saturday morning breakfast and coffee.

Microsoft Corp. is making an unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo Inc., the Internet icon and one the best known Web portals, in a move to boost its competitive edge against Google Inc. in the online services market. The unexpected announcement Friday comes as Yahoo and Microsoft have fallen behind Google in the race to capture online advertising dollars. The deal could also give lift to the entire technology market.

I wonder (seriously) how a Microsoft backed Yahoo! (or whatever entity emerges should the deal proceed) search engine would fare in the search engine wars. Wouldn’t it be a force to be reckoned with? Yahoo! Pagerank anyone?