Google bought the company Zagat

Google acquired the company Zagat - one of the most well-known names in the market for restaurant reviews. Zagat is best known for its small print guides with reviews and recommendations of restaurants around the world. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Zagat was founded back in 1979, and, according to the company, now includes ratings and reviews from 350,000 "researchers" - their users who create content for future guides.

In recent years, the company has translated its reviews online as well as offering mobile applications for major platforms. Most of their online content has been paid for some time, but in February, Zagat restarted its website to include much more free content.
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As reported, in 2008, Zagat exhibited himself for sale with an asking price of about $ 200 million, but then changed his mind (at least until today).

From Google, this step is part of the goal to improve its local products, which are now under the control of Vice President Marissa Mayer (she has long been one of the company's top public figures and has led the search direction 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 also allowing 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 Dodgeball social geoservice, but ultimately closed it, and its founder Dennis Crowley left to establish Foursquare. More recent attempts include Latitude, an already forgotten competitor to Foursquare, and Hotpot, a recommendation service that has turned into Google Places.

via TechCrunch , Mashable