by , 1:50 PM EST, November 7th, 2008

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

In response to comments from Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang that, "To this day, I would say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo!," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was blunt, saying, "We've moved on."

The back and forth started with Google pulling out of a deal Wednesday that it had reached with Yahoo! in June of 2008, which itself followed an aborted buyout offer of Yahoo! by Microsoft that ended with Yahoo! rejecting Big Redmond's advances.

Today, Bloomberg reported that Steve Ballmer returned the favor during a conference in Sydney, Australia, where he added his company is not planning on making another bid for Yahoo!, even though Microsoft had gone as far as to threaten a hostile take over a few short months ago.

Microsoft has been wanting to buy its way into the search business having spent the last several years getting nowhere trying to do it on its own. The company has said that it considers Internet search a big part of its future.

At the time, Yahoo! said that Microsoft was undervaluing the company with its offer, and the two companies spent several months in negotiations that eventually ended with Yahoo! holding firm and Microsoft empty handed.

It's that state of affairs that makes today's back and forth with Yahoo! being interested in a Microsoft buyout and Microsoft playing coy all the more interesting. The situation has already launched all sorts of speculation about the role of Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang in the company he cofounded.