SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - US software giant Microsoft announced Wednesday that it had bought British online mapping specialty firm Multimap.

The purchase comes as Microsoft strives to break the stride of rival Google, an Internet juggernaut that recently upgraded its mapping service to automatically locate people using mobile devices to get online.

Microsoft billed Multimap as one of the world's leading online mapping services and said its technology will complement the US firm's Virtual Earth, Live Search, Windows Live and MSN features.

"We are thrilled to welcome Multimap onboard," said Microsoft online services group general manager Sharon Baylay.

"This acquisition will play a significant role in the future growth of our search business and presents a huge opportunity to expand our platform business beyond the UK and globally."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Multimap is to operate as a subsidiary of Microsoft, which is headquartered in the US state of Washington.

Multimap chief executive Jeff Kelisky said Multimap technology will be built into new software applications in order to give users "fun ways to get from point A to point B."