GoDaddy Buys Locu, a Local Merchant Discovery Firm

GoDaddy has purchased Locu, a startup launched by a few MIT graduates that helps small businesses get more visibility on the web, Locu announced on Monday.

Formed in 2011, Locu fetched $70 million according to AllThingsD. Though Locu celebrated the purchase on its blog, a GoDaddy rep said that the company wasn't ready to officially announce it. She declined to discuss terms of the acquisition.

Locu sought to use its founders' data expertise to create a structured repository of small business offerings data. In practice, it became a "write once, publish everywhere" platform for small businesses. Once information was updated on the platform it also got revised on Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and TripAdvisor, among other outlets. Read more...