Yahoo acquires e-mail search company

Yahoo has snapped up privately-held e-mail software company Stata Labs, which develops technology that allows users to quickly search through mail and attachments. The move generated speculation that the Internet powerhouse is gearing up to take on Google's Gmail Webmail service, which features broad capabilities to search e-mail messages.

San Mateo, California-based Stata offered an e-mail client called Bloomba, which allows users to manage and organize multiple e-mail accounts, search through mail, and even save searches as views. It was lauded by reviewers as being efficient and easy to use, but lacked a high profile and large development budget.

While Yahoo doesn't plan to continue offering the Bloomba product or its spam filter software SAproxy Pro, the acquisition will provide the Sunnyvale, California, company with "technological expertise and strategic assets," according to a notice posted on Stata's Web site. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.

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