Google buys Zagat Review, eyes local businesses

Zagat Survey LLC, a popular review and ratings service, is now owned by Google Inc. Zagat is most known for its burgundy-colored restaurant guides. Analysts suggest that the new acquisition could further strengthen Google’s foray in building customer base of local businesses and advertisers.

The Google Inc., California based search engine giant, after acquiring Zagat, said in its official blog post that the company is planning to present a range of hotels, holiday resorts, hotel reviews, shopping, Mountain View and other miscelaneous categories on a single platform.

Experts suggest the new co-venture is definitely going to hurt the shares of OpenTable Inc., a Google partner which offers online customers to review restaurants and book online reservations.

Zagat is a 32 years old company that started off its venture in print media. Zagat has a different style of presenting reviews that blend quotes from various users. Zagat will repose on current areas where Google serves, and the services help local entrepreneurs to draw themselves into the search results.

Marissa Mayer, vice president of Google’s maps services, commented in her blog posting, “Moving forward, 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,”

Zagat’s change in course unexpected
The New York based Zagat had asserted earlier in June that the company is quite against selling; and the managerial team has rather decided to spread out its online business.

In the company reports, Zagat claimed that it is an initiator in user-generated content and has created world's most relied and powerful customer reviews. The Google Inc., which is the most renowned innovator of search market, will further spread up Zagat’s wings in the online industry.

Meanwhile, Google’s shares mounted by $3.32 to reach $537.35, the company’s shares were otherwise down by 10 percent most of the time throughout this year.