Yahoo! acquires Whereonearth to improve Local Search

Google is the market leader when it comes to searching the web. However, local searching is something, which has gained an importance in the recent times as all the major search engines are trying hard to make it easy for the end user to find content and services relevant to their locality. Both Google and Yahoo! provide local search facility and are trying to outdo each other.

The latest news in this segment of the search engine market is that Yahoo! has announced plans to acquire a small startup called Whereonearth, which is currently based in the United Kingdom. The aim is to improve upon their own local search and mobile phone services and compete more effectively with search leader Google.

Whereonearth is a company, which excels at location-based Internet services. They also have a sophisticated database of geographical locations that enable users to search for local goods and services without requiring them to manually fill in their locality details like Zip Codes. The company currently employs around 25 workers and has been working with Yahoo! through limited licensing deals since 5 years.

Yahoo! claimed that their acquired company has databases, which covers more than 90 percent of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. This would become an asset for them in improving their search services.