The company might fetch as much as $200 million, it was reported at the time. Zagat enlisted Goldman Sachs to explore a sale as early as 2008, although no buyers emerged in the middle of a recession. “We are thrilled to see our baby placed in such good hands and to start today as official ‘Googlers,’” the founders said in a joint statement. Industry analysts regard the local, social and mobile markets as some of the fastest-growing areas of the technology sector. Zagat gave Google a tongue-in-cheek rating on its home page on Thursday, awarding the Internet company a maximum 30-point rating for its “local, social, mobile and usefulness” categories.

It may be one of the earliest forms of user-generated content, Google Vice President Marissa Mayer said in a blog post on Thursday. While much of Zagat’s content is free and available to anyone, some content remains behind a paywall and it was unclear if Google would remove it.įounded by Tim and Nina Zagat, the eponymous service provides the familiar burgundy pocket-sized guides to restaurants in more than 100 cities.

“Zagat reviews, in a few short lines and a few scores, gives you a great sense of a place very quickly when you’re on the go.” “It’s also (about) getting them a sense of the place. Google needs to provide more than just directions to consumers seeking information about restaurants and other local businesses, said Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of Local, Maps and Location services, in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. The deal, for which Google did not provide financial information, gives it valuable content about restaurants, hotels and nightclubs that can be paired with its popular online maps and mobile search services. 1 search engine plans to compete in this market against Yelp and OpenTable. Local commerce offers services such as finding a discount from a nearby store, or a review of a neighborhood eatery, and the world’s No.

Google Inc has bought popular dining ratings authority Zagat, adding a valuable brand to its content offerings and bolstering its push into the rapidly growing local commerce market. A Zagat restaurant guide book is pictured in Los Angeles September 8, 2011.

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