If you live on this planet, you’ll have heard that last Friday Microsoft launched a takeover bid for Yahoo!. If we were already stunned when Google acquired YouTube for over a billion euros, this time Microsoft has offered around $44 billion — pocket change, naturally.

It seems Microsoft has concluded that if they want to compete with Google on the internet they need this acquisition, and I agree with them (not that I like it). Because — correct me if I’m wrong — they’re not the leader in a single online service they offer (not even with Windows Live Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger).

Microsoft had already shown interest in Yahoo! last year, but back then Yahoo! wasn’t interested. This time the situation is different — Yahoo!‘s stock is at rock bottom and it looks like Redmond is going all in.

In response to the letter Steve Ballmer sent to Yahoo!‘s board of directors announcing his intentions, the board declared they would “carefully consider the offer”. This has triggered some alarms — there are even reports that Mr. Google himself has been in touch with Mr. Yahoo! to try to prevent the sale…

As for me, I won’t believe it until I see it — and even then it’ll be hard to process — so I’d rather wait before digging deeper into the implications and consequences of what would be the largest acquisition in the history of the internet.