Yahoo has bought Koprol.com, an Indonesian mobile location-based-services Web company similar to Foursquare in the U.S.
The purchase gives Yahoo an expert in location-based mobile services, including helping people find nearby local businesses complete with reviews, on their mobile phones, as well as seeing where friends are and what they’re doing, and more. Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Yahoo had reportedly been seeking a deal for New York City-based Foursquare valued at over US$100 million.
Yahoo bought Koprol because people are increasingly using mobile devices to access the Internet, the company said in a statement. “This is especially true in many emerging markets where we are introducing the Yahoo brand to many new-to-Net users,” said Rose Tsou, senior vice president of the Asia Region for Yahoo, in a statement. “Koprol was uniquely designed for mobile phones and within a year has already built a strong user base,” she added.
Yahoo plans to introduce Koprol in new markets, but did not say when.
“For us, joining a company like Yahoo was an easy decision to make and will take Koprol to the next level. We are very excited,” Koprol said on its blog, adding that Koprol is well suited for Indonesia and the emerging markets in general.