eBay buys mobile location Company "Where"

Online auction house eBay has agreed to acquire m-commerce and mobile advertising firm Where for an undisclosed sum. Based in Boston, US, Where runs a location-based mobile ad network, which should give eBay greater presence on a local level.

Where is an important player  in the mobile location services space, delivering local-area advertising to mobile customers. Where combines its local mobile discovery application with Where Ads to provide “personalised, hyper-local advertising, offers, and deals to millions of mobile consumers

eBay’s acquisition is in line with its push to abandon its shrinking auction user base and align itself with the retailers whose prices it had formerly undermined.The acquisition gives eBay a user base of 120,000 Where business customers, the company said. On its site, Where claims a user base of four million, and says its advertisements reach 50 million viewers.

An integration of eBay-owned PayPal with the Where mobile application is on the cards, allowing consumers to find, shop and pay for great local deals anytime, anywhere and help retailers reach local buyers in real-time.

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