Google Buys Zagat Survey Company

Google extends its reach by buying Zagat:

Google has acquired Zagat, the survey company and multimedia publisher known best for its highly regarded print guides to local restaurants.

The acquisition strengthens Google’s position in local search, helping it compete with web-native companies like Yelp, particularly for high-volume searches for restaurants and hotels. It also means that much like Yahoo or Microsoft, Google increasingly owns outright some of the media content it serves up for searches, rather than simply indexing and influencing it.

On Twitter, Google’s Mayer added an “acquisition announcement haiku”:

“Delightful deal done. Zagat and Google now one. Foodies have more fun!”