Natalie Rittle

News outlets everywhere are buzzing with the unsolicited $44.6 billion cash and stock bid for Yahoo! stock Microsoft waged on February 1, 2008.

Called "the next major milestone" for Microsoft by it's chief executive Steve Ballmer, the deal would pay Yahoo shareholders $31 a share, which represents a 62% premium from where Yahoo stock closed on Thursday.

According to cnnmoney.com, a Microsoft-Yahoo combination would create a powerful number two player in the online search business, which Google commands. It would also be one of the biggest tech deals ever, on par with Hewlett-Packard's $25 billion acquisition of Compaq in 2002.

As it stand now, Google reigns over 58.4% of the U.S. market, while Yahoo has 22.9% and Microsoft's share is just 9.8%, according to comScore, a research firm that tracks Internet traffic. So...I guess only time will tell if the search engine giant, Google, will be surpassed if Yahoo! gets empowered by Microsoft.