According to a report in today's New York Post, Microsoft is pursuing a deal to acquire Yahoo. And the report claims that Microsoft may be desperate to buy Yahoo. Translation: Microsoft may actually close the deal this time.Microsoft has supposedly tried to acquire Yahoo several times, but a deal never materialized. Most insiders claimed that Microsoft's earlier efforts were stunted by Microsoft's lack of immediate need.

Apparently, that's no longer the case. Microsoft feels stung by its loss of DoubleClick to Google and the company knows it now has little time to lose:

While Microsoft and Yahoo! have held informal deal talks over the years, sources say the latest approach signals an urgency on Microsoft's part that has up until now been lacking.

The new approach follows an offer Microsoft made to acquire Yahoo! a few months ago, sources said. But Yahoo! spurned the advances of the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. Wall Street sources put a roughly $50 billion price tag on Yahoo!.

"They're getting tired of being left at the altar," said one banking source who has recently had talks with Microsoft. "They now seem more willing to extend themselves via a transaction to get into the game."

The report claims that two factors are pushing Microsoft to step up its acquisition strategy. The first is that Google keeps beating Microsoft to the punch in acquiring companies that would help Microsoft's business.

The second is Google's push into hosted software, a direct attack on Microsoft's core business of Office software.

On top of this, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer this week said that his company's biggest regret was not getting into online advertising sooner.

What do you think? Will Microsoft make a serious play for Yahoo? And even if Microsoft tries to buy Yahoo, will Google beat them to the punch once more?