Yahoo Acquires Arabic Portal Maktoob
Yahoo is buying Arabic-language Internet portal Maktoob to expand its presence in that part of the world. The company did not disclose financial details, though TechCrunch’s sources put the price at $85 million while other sites, such as ArabianBusiness.com, say $100 million.
Maktoob offers services such as search, payments, a social network and auctions. Yahoo is reported to have 20 million users in the Arab world and will add Maktoob’s 16 million.
Meanwhile in the United States, Yahoo is revamping its e-mail, messenger and search functions to make them more relevant to users, according to PCMag.com.