Google to sell Zagat, a restaurant review service it bought for $151M
Two months after insiders first revealed that Google LLC is trying to offload its Zagat restaurant review service, the move is now official.
The search giant has agreed to sell the business to another restaurant review provider that operates under the brand The Infatuation. The financial terms were not disclosed in the release that announced the deal today. However, the fact that The Infatuation has raised just $3.5 million in funding suggests that the price tag was well below the $151 million Google had paid for Zagat in 2011.
The deal came as part of an effort by Google to take on crowdsourced review services such as Yelp that were already well-established at the time. Since the deal, however, the company has shifted its efforts in reviews away from Zagat. The company’s search engine now provides a built-in feedback aggregator that features ratings of restaurants and other commercial establishments from more than 50 million users worldwide.
The feature is one component of a broader effort by Google to expand the reach of its search engine. Another piece of the puzzle was rolled out last month, in the form of an update for mobile users that introduced the ability to book flights and hotel rooms without having to open another page.
Yet even as Google’s priorities changed over the years, Zagat has continued to play a limited role. The site remains active and select reviews from the service can be found in restaurants’ Google Maps pages.
There’s no word on how the integration will be affected by the sale of Zagat. However, The Infatuation divulged that it intends to continue operating the service as a standalone website under the current brand.
The company has big plans for Zagat. It will expand the service internationally and build a “new tech-driven platform that will create a stronger, more meaningful alternative to other crowdsourced restaurant reviews,” which presumably means that users can expect new features.
Image: Bob B. Brown/Flickr
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