Word has it that Microsoft and Yahoo will be striking a search and advertising deal within the next 24 hours. The merger will pit the two big companies against each other, as the new MicroHoo will put up a united front against the Google machine.

According to the deal, Microsoft search technology will be used on Yahoo sites, but whether Bing – Microsoft’s new search weapon Google competitor – will be part of the deal is unclear

The deal doesn’t have the original all-encompassing plans of Microsoft taking over Yahoo’s search and advertising operations entirely. Still, the deal is historic, bringing in two of the net’s most illustrious big shots for a deal that people have been expecting for some time now, actually, for about three years already.

With Google’s market share at close to 70 percent, the regrouping will hopefully spurr some competition and even things out, what with the 28% or so they have left to fight with. They’re also expected to use a poor man’s argument to advertisers to try and make this a fair fight and get some revenue. Only time will tell if they can poke Google out of its emperor’s slumber, even though Google, despite its uncontested throne, continues to innovate with Google Moon and Donut…