The rumors have been flying around for some time now over whether or not Microsoft will put in an offer for search Giant Yahoo. Many have speculated over the past few months as to if Microsoft would try for an acquisition, and if so, how much was it worth to them.

This morning all speculation came to an end when Microsoft unexpectantly waved $44.6 Billion under Yahoo’s nose. Shortly after the announcement Yahoo Shares rose sharply by more than 50%, while Google shares took another 8% drop down to 515.90 by close of day Friday.

The latest acquisition attempt, and what would be one of the largest in history, would put Microsoft in a position to actually compete with distant leader Google.

In a conference call this morning Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer stated:

“This is a decision we have – and I have – thought long and hard about,” Ballmer said. “We are confident it’s the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo.”

Last year Microsoft purchased online ad service aQuantive for a stagger $6 Billion – petty cash compared the offer currently on the table for Yahoo.

Last year Microsoft was negotiating to purchase yahoo (see Microsoft Buy Yahoo? Yes Please!) And at that time the Wall Street Journal had estimated Yahoo’s value at around $50 Billion.

Will the deal go though this time? It would certainly stir things up and make life a little more interesting for us SEO folks – If the past is any indication of the future, then this deal may just fizzle out, but with Yahoos recent layoff announcement, and lower than expected fourth quarter earnings, this just may be there way out.

(on a completely “conspiracy theory” type level, perhaps Yahoo just paid off Microsoft under the table to stage a fake offer in order to drive Yahoo shares up? Do I believe this – well no, but I was recently reading about some famous historical publicity stunts, so this theory came to mind and I wanted to share it)

According to the New York Times, in an effort to invest in its future, Yahoo will cut 1000 jobs, making it the largest internet layoff since the big dot-com bust. They did not specify which departments will be cut back.

Yahoo’s fourth quarter (2007) net income fell to $206 million, down from $269 million for the same period in 2006. After the announcement Tuesday, Yahoos stock fell by nearly 10 percent in after-hours trading.

Yahoo currently has approximately 14,300 employees. The job cuts are expected to take place by mid February of this year.

Yesterday Danny Sullivan published an article over at Search Engine Land discussing Google Universal Search. In his article he discusses how Universal Search has evolved in the short time since it debuted last year.

Today Universal Search results are displayed based mostly on relevance and blended in with the natural search results. While it is very common for news, images, and other vertical search results to be displayed at the top of the page, more and more cases are being found with these being injected, or blended, right into the midst of things (for example in the #4 or #5 position, based entirely on relevance).

Universal Search does not only display results based on Google news, but also looks at videos, images, maps, and other search relevant results from Google’s various vertical search listings.

Danny goes into significant detail in outlining various examples including screen shots, showing how Local, Image, News, and Video results are blended into the normal results pages. While today we are seeing many of these verticals blended in, Video search is the most consistent. This is no surprise given that Video is appearing everywhere these days, and accounts for a large part of total internet uses (an estimated 3 billion video’s were watched in November on Google properties alone).

If you are interested in how Universal search has, and will continue to evolve over at Google, be sure to catch Danny’s Article, Google Universal Search: 2008 Edition.