eBay Buys Milo for Local Results

By Richard Gibson
Dec 2 2010

eBay, the largest US-based online auction company, announced today that they have purchased local search results company Milo.

The purchase details we kept private but some inside sources say that Milo was purchased for $75 million, a rather small sum in today’s internet market. However, eBay has been looking for a way to bridge the gap between live stores and online markets and the Milo purchase will do just that.

Milo is a service that tracks items on stores shelves in real-time. By performing a simple search, users can find out exact pricing for their local stores for millions of products all over the US. The service currently encompasses some 52,000 stores nationwide and will likely continue to build on that foundation with the acquisition by eBay.

Milo was quietly shopping for investors when eBay made their offer. The founders of the site have said that it is a dream come true to have a company as large and as well-known as eBay take an interest in their technology.

eBay has been searching for a service like Milo for the past several years. They have found that there is a dramatic dip in sales between the online worlds and the live stores. But they also found that people are willing to wait for their item if they can find it for a great deal.

Milo will be a tool that can be used by buyers and sellers through the eBay system.