Yahoo said on Tuesday it has acquired a small UK company called Whereonearth to help improve its local search and mobile phone services and compete more e
ffectively with Google. Whereonearth specializes in location-based Internet services, including a sophisticated database of geographical locations that will let users search for local goods and services without entering a zip code or post code. Whereonearth's database covers more than 90 percent of Europe, Asia and the Americas including detailed information about where certain areas are in relation to each other.