Just when we all thought the curtain had closed on the soap opera surrounding Yahoo!, the media company announced it officially ended talks with Microsoft and instead entered a partnership with Google – a match both firms hope has revenue upside of about $800 million.

I’ll admit, I’m still scratching my head on exactly why Yahoo! thought this move was a smart one for them.  I see the deal as:

*A great move for Google.  Google – which already has about 60% of consumer searches and its own vast paid search and contextual network – now has access to and will make money off of its primary rival’s inventory.