Microsoft to buy Yahoo!?!

In more Yahoo! news of the day, Microsoft is said to be in talks to merge/purchase Yahoo! for around $50 billion; yes that is billion with a B. Yahoo is estimated to be worth $40 billion currently, with Microsoft at $280 billion. Microsoft and Yahoo’s largest competitor, Google, currently owns 65% of the search market, and if the Microsoft and Yahoo combined they would have a hold on around 27%. Recently Google purchased DoubleClick, stepping up their ad presence, and the pressure could be getting to Microsoft to step up their game. Around a year ago, Microsoft was in talks with Yahoo, and it looks like they’ve asked them back to the table. What would this mean for the internet as a whole? It’s no secret that Google is winning the battle online, but even with the power of Yahoo, can Microsoft hope to make any significant dent to Google’s success?

UPDATE: Early reports are stating that this in fact, once again, is highly unlikely. All recent talks on both sides have either stopped, or never took place at all.