Any Google competitors would have a difficult time rising above. Still, that is exactly what Microsoft and Yahoo hope to do with their recent partnership.

On Wednesday, Microsoft and Google announced that they’ve finally agreed to work together in an attempt to overpower their search engine superior. According to the Washington Post, Google owns 65 percent of Internet search advertising while Microsoft and Google (combined) bring in about 28 percent.

So basically, it’s going to be a long and hard fight.

Their plan is for Microsoft to power Yahoo’s search results while Yahoo will be responsible for both of their advertising. The deal has yet to be approved by the government, but is expected to come into fruition in early 2010.

The plan has to be approved by the Justice Department’s antitrust regulators or by the Federal Trade Commission. Sen. Herb Kohl told the Washington Post that there will be “careful scrutiny” because they are “concerned about competition issues in these markets because of the potentially far-reaching consequences for consumers and advertisers.”

This concern is a nice thought but there are few who actually think that “Microhoo” won’t be able to give the beloved Google a run for their money. With the recent arrival of Microsoft’s Bing, they are becoming more popular than they were with Live Search but it’s debatable if that will be enough.

Old habits die hard and Google is one strong habit for Americans.

According to the Times, Microsoft has been stuck behind Google and Yahoo! for years with a mere 8.2 percent of Web searches compared to Google’s 64.2 percent and Yahoo!’s 20.4 percent. The question remains if this transformation of Live Search will be enough to attract a significant amount of converts.

The reviews are mixed. According to Reuters, Bing is attracting “window shoppers, not converts” and although people are trying the new engine, they’re not ready to give up quite yet on Google. The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft has seen an 8 percent increase in paid clicks (advertisement clicks) within the first week.

At the end of Bing’s first week, it still faces the task of weaning many Americans off of their Google addiction and racing ahead. Many analysts are skeptical of it ever reaching the heights of Google, seeing as all Macs and Firefox Internet explorers come with an automatic Google toolbar. (Even BlackBerrys come with Google search and Google maps.)

Microsoft has spent millions of dollars on this and will be spending even more with advertising. Could this be worth all the money and time, or should Billy just give up? Third place isn’t too bad, right?