Yahoo! Japan picks up location-based AdLocal's parent company Cirius

Online reports suggest Yahoo! Japan has acquired Japan's Cirius Technologies the firm behind the location-based mobile ad network AdLocal.

The network specialises in pitching in-app advertising at users based on their physical location.

Its set-up, which utilises a combination of GPS, cell IDs and map co-ordinates, allows advertisers to pick set areas where their promos pop up, from locations the size of a football field to an entire state or country.

Getting a fix on location

Cirius set up AdLocal in the US back in December 2009, though the technology has been used in Japan since 2006.

As such, Cirius can call on a publisher network that includes the likes of DeNA's Moba-ge-Town platform, handing the company the largest share of Japan's $1 billion mobile advertising industry in the process.

Though full details are yet to be disclosed, it's believed Yahoo! Japan a subsidiary of Yahoo! and part owned by SoftBank will shut down AdLocal's US office in California to focus on the Japanese market.

[source: mocoNews]