Yahoo Buys Koprol, An Indonesian Location-Based Mobile Social Network

If Foursquare is more than Yahoo can afford, then it might as well purchase something else that presents something similar to the location-based mobile social network. And that’s what Yahoo just did. It buys Koprol, an Indonesian startup, which lets users connect and share photos, reviews and additional information about locations in real-time using just their mobile phone browser.

Once users are in Koprol, they can "check-in" when they arrive at a particular location and then share tips, photos or other messages with nearby users – an obvious similarity with Foursquare. Koprol has a growing directory of places, it lets you find local businesses, including popular shops or restaurants that are recommended by users. When using most social networks you have to stay in front of the computer, Koprol, however, goes everywhere with you as you cruise around the city and find friends to meet in real life.

So why would Yahoo actually want to buy Koprol? How can Koprol’s features and service fit into Yahoo’s online strategy? Well, the addition of Koprol to the Yahoo family will extend Yahoo’s social, mobile and local offerings in this emerging market.

“Users are increasingly relying on mobile devices to communicate and access the Internet and they are looking for seamless integration between those devices and PCs. 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, Asia Region at Yahoo. “Koprol was uniquely designed for mobile phones and within a year has already built a strong user base. Yahoo provides the global scale and technology to accelerate growth in Indonesia as well as introduce the service to new markets.”

Well, what this means to SEO community is that mobile internet communities are growing very fast at a steady gait, and one can no longer ignore the tremendous opportunities of mobile SEO.