Yahoo gets the next best thing

Yahoo announced today that it has acquired Koprol, a location-based social network in Indonesia. The service is similar to Foursquare and Gowalla, enabling users to connect and share photos, reviews and other information in real-time using their mobile phone browser.

This acquisition is especially interesting in the context of Yahoo’s new partnership with Nokia. Yahoo says it plans to continue to invest in the evolving Koprol service, including mobile applications, like its newly released app for the BlackBerry.

Yahoo explains that the company “is focused on providing personally relevant content to its global users on multiple devices and access points” and that it plans to “leverage the rich community of information generated by Koprol users to make its properties and applications, including its homepage and media and communications products, even more locally relevant.”

Still, it’s unclear why Yahoo is making this type of acquisition. It may be a strategic move for Yahoo’s Asia region, and the company may not intend to grow the network beyond the area.

How or if Koprol will hook into Yahoo’s other location-based tools and APIs, like Fire Eagle, has not yet been revealed.

What do you think of Yahoo’s latest acquisition?

CrunchBase Information

Yahoo!

Foursquare

Gowalla

Nokia

Fire Eagle

Information provided by CrunchBase