Yahoo!'s New Location-Based Tool

A couple of weeks ago I admitted in a post that I don't see the value of location-based social media.  There were some great comments posted on this blog and in LinkedIn discussion posts.  Some had examples of effective location-based marketing campaigns (like Starbucks discounts given to Foursquare "mayors").  Many others recognized that while there may not be apparent marketing benefits yet, location-based media is fun and therefore relevant.

It looks like Yahoo! agrees that location-based media has great potential.  Yesterday they acquired Koprol, a location-based social network in Indonesia.  This article on Mashable.com explains the possible implications of the acquisition:

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.

I'm still not convinced that location-based media has any value today, but there are enough powerful companies interested enough to make it effective tomorrow!