Two of Google's most formidable rivals in online search - Microsoft and Yahoo - have forged an Internet search partnership, finally putting an end to years of back and forth negotiations. The agreement was announced Wednesday, and gives Microsoft access to the Internet's second largest search engine audience.

Microsoft stands to gain the most in this deal, giving them yet another weapon to use in the battle against the web's top search engine and advertiser, Google. Microsoft will now be able to process more search requests, which is a critical component in selling online advertising.

Yahoo was forced to make some kind of a move after years of financial decay and distress. Yahoo is also hoping to recover some of the money they passed on in 2008 when it turned down the opportunity to sell the entire company to Microsoft for $47.5 billion.