Internet.com: Scenario Analysis of Yahoo's Acquisition of Inktomi

When Yahoo announced that it was going to acquire Inktomi just before Christmas, search forums suddenly sprang back into life, each and everyone hazarding a guess as to what the implications of this move would be.

This article does a good job of outlining most of the possibilities. They conclude by identifying their favourite option:

For what its worth, our educated guess, would be Yahoo! integrate Inktomi into the current system, replacing Google, whereby relevant search engine results precedence is determined by Yahoo! Directory inclusion and Inktomi paid inclusion.

Well possible, although I'm not convinced that they are going to ditch Google quite yet. For that reason I'm going to put my money on some form of combination between Google's results and Inktomi's paid inclusion listings. Invariably MSN will at some stage throw their toys, and may form a partnership with FAST. It should make for interesting viewing.