Google bought Zagat



    Google acquired Zagat, one of the most famous names on the restaurant review market. Zagat is best known for its small printed travel guides with restaurant reviews and recommendations around the world. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Zagat was founded back in 1979, and, according to the company, it now includes ratings and reviews from 350 thousand “researchers” - their users who create content for future guides.

    In recent years, the company has translated its reviews online, and also offers mobile applications for major platforms. Most of their online content was paid for some time, but in February Zagat restarted its site, incorporating much more free content into it.

    It was reported that in 2008 Zagat put itself up for sale with a asking price of about $ 200 million, but then changed its mind (at least until today).

    On the Google side, this step is part of the goal of improving their local products, which are now managed by Vice President Marissa Mayer (she has long been one of the company's main public figures and has led the search business for a decade).

    According to Mayer, Zagat will be the cornerstone of Google’s local products, “delighting people with an impressive amount of reviews, ratings and reviews, while at the same time enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) places around the corner and around the world.”

    Local products are not an easy area for Google. In 2005, the company acquired the Dodgeball social geoservice, but ultimately closed it, and its founder, Dennis Crowley, left to found Foursquare. More recent attempts include Latitude, an already forgotten Foursquare competitor, and Hotpot, a recommendation service that has evolved into Google Places.

    via TechCrunch , Mashable

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