Microsoft clearly means business when it comes to their acquisition of Yahoo!. Steve Ballmer (the Microsoft CEO) threw down the gauntlet in an open letter to Yahoo! where he basically said, “You have three weeks to take the deal before we start talking to your shareholders who will want to take this deal because it will make them money.”

Yahoo!, trying to play coy, responded saying that it’s not that they’re not interested in the deal, it’s just that they think big M should pay more. Right, because they’re sliding stock is really emblematic of a company who can make such lofty demands.

Why do I care though?

If, and when, this deal goes through it’ll shift the whole SEO/SEM industry because it’ll go from one where Google dominates all and Microsoft and Yahoo! are distantly nipping at its heels to one where suddenly Microsoft is much closer to Google. This will dramatically change the Internet landscape.

Honestly, I’m excited for when this happens. It’ll be an exciting two horse race with more fun for everyone online.