Yahoo may not have nailed a much-rumored deal to acquire Foursquare, but it looks like it has succeeded in buying the location service's Indonesian cousin.
Yahoo has purchased Jakarta-based Koprol for an undisclosed price. The social geolocation business is quite similar to Foursquare, which Yahoo reportedly offered $100 million to buy, to no avail.
Users can use Koprol to check in at places and share information with friends. It essentially gives Yahoo a foothold in an important emerging market and a springboard for geo-location services in Asia. Koprol users can share photos, reviews, and other information using a mobile phone browser. You can use it to find popular shops or restaurants, give ratings to businesses, and invite friends to participate.
Yahoo plans to continue to invest in Koprol's service over time. It will be quite a coup if Yahoo could bring the service to the U.S. and mount a serious challenge to Foursquare and Booyah's MyTown location apps.