Buying Hulu? Projected at two to three billion dollars. Having the most powerful ad delivery platform on the web under your control? Priceless. Or very near thereunto, anyway. Hulu generates half a billion in revenue each year and is a respected name in the entertainment world, with a staff that knows how to work the networks and networks that love to work the platform. The real question is who will end up scooping Hulu into their portfolio of companies.

The major candidates are the usual suspects: Yahoo!, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Netflix – all technology giants with an interest in media. The only verified bidder, though, is Yahoo!. Yahoo! started the buyout process by approaching Hulu with an offer, and Hulu turned to investment banks to start a bidding process. While the candidates are unknown, Hulu has confirmed that it’s evaluating multiple offers.

Each company has something to gain, but the picture is different depending on which group you look at. Google, who certainly has the buying power, would be expanding their media portfolio and taking charge of another powerful video site. Considering how different the content on Hulu is, the site would actually complement YouTube nicely. But does Google need the headache of more network relationships? Or might those relationships even help the company on other fronts?

Microsoft, meanwhile, shut down its video competitor (Soapbox) in 2009, and may be looking to make a comeback. Entertainment is one of Bing’s three most major target areas (the others being travel and shopping), so the choice would make a lot of sense.

And Yahoo!, who sees flagging revenue in almost every area but entertainment, is likely the most hungry candidate. If they can beat competing bids, Hulu is likely to serve as a boon to Yahoo!’s business portfolio – which the company desperately needs.