Google is continuing its slew of big name purchases, with news now coming that it has purchased Zagat, the company that did what Yelp does today in the pre-digital age. In a Twitter post, Google executive Marissa Mayer wrote this haiku:
Delightful deal done
Zagat and Google now one
foodies have more fun!
On a more serious note she later blogged that, “Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering — delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) experiences around the corner and around the world.”
Tim and Nina Zagat, who founded the restaurant rating company 32 years ago, wrote on their company’s website that “the combination of Zagat’s and Google’s assets and capabilities will maximize our product quality and growth.”
Zagat will be a perfect compliment for Google Maps. Not only will people be able to pick an obscure restaurant; now they’ll also be able to find it.
Google has not yet announced how much it paid for Zagat, but it is thought to be one of the company’s largest content acquisitions ever.
In-Depth with Sonya Tayeh 
