By now, everyone has heard the news.  Microsoft made a $44.6 Billion bid to acquire Yahoo late last week.  The deal, which would be the biggest that the technology industry has seen, has raised a lot of concerns on all sides.  At $31/share, Microsoft has set the bar very high and it is unlikely that other bidders will be able to compete.  Even rival Google, who appears to be the target of the takeover, will most likely stay out of a bidding war with Microsoft.  Instead, they have offered to do whatever they can to help Yahoo avoid a takeover attempt.

Google could use their political presence to urge lawmakers to scrutinize this deal.  Certainly, the combination of two internet powerhouses will bring about antitrust concerns in Washington.  And Google will most likely have something to say about every facet of the deal as they try to maintain their huge competitive edge in the online search and advertising markets.

This will not be the first time that Google and Microsoft go head to head in Washington.  Microsoft successfully delayed Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, an online advertising company that Google bought last year.  But if Yahoo takes the deal, or Microsoft goes hostile, the deal is most likely to pass through Congress with little trouble.  If anything, it provides increases competition in an industry currently dominated by Google.

Still in its infancy, this deal has to go through a lot in order to be completed.  For right now, we will all continue to speculate and comment on what could be.  Yahoo will need plenty of time to evaluate the bid and shop for other solutions.  This kind of thing will take a long time to settle but when it does, it could mean a new age of Google – Microsoft competition.