Very quickly after announcing an extended partnership with Nokia, Yahoo has further expanded its presence in the mobile market by acquiring Koprol, a social networking start-up based in Indonesia.
Koprol specializes in mobile networking, allowing users to share photos with their friends and search for places based on location data.
The social networker describes itself as “a mobile community where people have conversations based on places.” It does not require GPS but it relies on location-driven content. It is currently marketed towards Asian users but due to the Yahoo acquisition it will most likely be getting a new broader message.
With the Yahoo buyout, Koprol will maintain its base in Jakarta, Indonesia and all employees will be converted to the Yahoo team. Koprol noted in a blog post that many of its planned features will be rolled out sooner than expected because of the newly added resources.
On Monday, Yahoo announced that it is working with Nokia to enhance its mobile offerings for search, mapping, e-mail, and instant messaging. After being pummeled by Google, the mobile sector is one area that Yahoo has strongly fought to find a new voice. It has found some success but this week it seems the company is admitting that it needs to pump some new life into its mobile operations.
Koprol doesn’t have the weight that other location-based social sites, like Foursquare, have. But location sharing is hot and burgeoning, so new up-and-comers like Koprol are certainly welcome. And for Yahoo, it’s a smart strategic move.
