1 of 2. A guide book Zagat restaurant is depicted in Los Angeles, September 8, 2011. Google Inc. has bought popular Zagat rating authority dinner, adding a valuable brand its content offering and strengthen your shipment to the growing market of local trade.
Credit: Reuters/Fred ProuserBy Alexei OreskovicSAN FRANCISCO | Fri 09/09/2011 3:21 am EST
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)-Google Inc has purchased the popular Zagat rating authority dinner, adding a valuable brand its content offering and strengthen your shipment to the growing market of local trade.
The local commerce offers services such as finding a discount of a nearby store, or a review of a neighborhood restaurant, and search engine plans of paragraph 1 of the world to compete in this market against Yelp and OpenTable.
The deal, for which Google did not provide financial information, gives you valuable content about restaurants, hotels and nightclubs which can be combined with its popular online maps and mobile search services.
Google needs to provide more than just directions to consumers who seek information about restaurants and other local businesses, said Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of Local services, maps and location, in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
"It's also about getting them a sense of place. A sense of what to expect, "said Mayer. "Zagat reviews, in a few short lines and some sheet music, gives you a great sense of a place very quickly when you're on the go."
The move is part of Google's effort to adapt its online services to a world in which consumers increasingly access the Web on mobile phones like the iPhone from Apple Inc on rely on social networking services like Facebook to get information from friends.
Last month, Google announced plans to acquire the mobile phone manufacturer Motorola mobility for $ 12.5 billion. The deal, if approved by regulators, will allow Google to produce its own line of smartphones based on its Android software.
"A reasonable person say that Google never can beat apple in product design by itself. At least not for a sustainable period. But Google could better integrate content and who became one more reason to buy these devices, "said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan.
The 32-year-old Zagat, which controls consumers and compiles reviews on restaurants around the world, will become a cornerstone of the offer "local" of Google, Google said.
"This highlights local and Google's mobile initiatives," said Brian Pitz, an analyst at UBS, which provides for the acquisition to give a boost to Google Maps, as customers look for restaurants. Last year, Google moved Mayer, an executive search, to direct its local initiatives.
Google needs to reviews and other content for their websites "Google places", in part to fend off criticism. He was accused of using review sites like Yelp reviews, essentially diverts your readers and above all your clicks. Google has dampened borrowers of comments recently, Pitz said.
The Federal Trade Commission has looked at the issue as part of a broader antitrust investigation, said a source familiar with the probe.
The move raises the question of whether the search giant will start their own restaurant booking service, building links with restaurants that advertise on it.
The actions of the OpenTable restaurant reservations service, which also publishes reviews and ratings, closed in more than 8% r $57,50 on Thursday after hitting a low of 54.50 earlier in the day.
OpenTable is the bicho already financial results that have disappointed investors this year and his departure in May of CEO Jeffrey Jordan, who joined the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Jordan continues to be President.
Pitz said expanding reserves would require extra steps as developing software reservation and obtaining restaurants to install it, as well as build different relationships with restaurants.
"It is apples and oranges," he said.
While much of the content of the Zagat is free and available to anyone, some content remains behind a paywall and it was not clear whether Google would remove it.
Founded by Tim and Nina Zagat, the service of the same name provides the Pocket Guides Burgundy family to restaurants in over 100 cities. Can be one of the earliest forms of user generated content, Google Vice President Marissa Mayer said in a blog post on Thursday.
Zagat gave Google a classification ironic in its home page on Thursday, awarding the Internet company a maximum 30 points classification for your categories "local, social, mobile and usefulness". Analysts argue that the local social and mobile markets, as some of the areas fastest growing technology sector.
The founders, "we are thrilled to see our baby placed in such good hands and to start today as an official ' Googlers '", said in a joint statement.
Zagat enlisted Goldman Sachs to explore a sale as early as 2008, although there are no buyers emerged in the middle of a recession. The company can fetch over $ 200 million, it was reported at the time.
At the end of 2009, Google is in talks to buy Yelp for less than $ 500 million, according to press reports at the time, but the deal was dissolved.
(Reporting by Edwin Chan and Sarah McBride; editing by Maureen Bavdek and Andre Grenon)
View the original article here
0 comments:
Post a Comment