Google is acquiring Frommer's travel guide business for roughly $25 million -- a tiny deal for the king of search. But this buy, as well as last year's purchase of restaurant rater Zagat's, makes it clear that Google has plans to keep becoming more of a powerhouse in content.
On Thursday, Google bought Zagat, a reviewing empire that represents the gold standard for crowd-sourced content. So to get a glimpse of what the future holds for the search giant, the review company, and Internet reviews in general, we've talked with Google VP Marissa Meyer and Zagat founders Tim and Nina Zagat.
On Thursday morning, the announcement went out across the land: Google, the undisputed master of search, had acquired Zagat, America's best-known and most highly-regarded restaurant review company. The companies presented the merger in rosy terms, but it didn't take long for the snarky critiques to begin.
It's a classic tale, retold a million times: The brash young gunslinger rises to the top of his craft, only to find himself facing a new generation itching to unseat him. But for Zagat surveys, the most famous name in restaurant reviews, the revolution is far from over.