San Francisco, CA

Google added Frommer's to its growing list of travel-related acquisitions. The tech giant acquired travel guide and review website Frommer's from John Wiley & Sons for $25 million according to the Wall Street Journal. It acquired restaurant review guide Zagat and travel software ITA in the past couple of years.

"The Frommer's team and the quality and scope of their content will be a great addition to the Zagat team. We can't wait to start working with them on our goal to provide a review for every relevant," in an email from a Google spokesperson to CNET.

With the recent acquisition of travel-related firms, it's still unclear if Google plans to dab into print travel guides or stick to online travel reviews.

"Our commitment is to keep things as they are today and once we combine operations, we'll know better what the future looks like. Consumers need fresh, accurate information. When you add information you can trust to phone numbers and addresses as part of the Google search experience, it enables users to convert their intentions into actions," director of product management within Google's Zagat unit Bernardo Hernandez said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google has sticked to its mantra not to produce its own content, instead purchasing companies that have an existing database of it. The company does plan to merge Zagat and Frommer's. Frommer's has listings of local businesses around the world while Zagat has restaurant reviews written by critics and users alike.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "The Frommer's deal could put Google at odds with other website publishers. In recent years, Google has expanded its array of services that seek to directly answer users' queries, departing from its original strategy of sending them quickly to the most relevant site."

Google has shown a great interest in travel-related business the past couple of years. It already has its own flight-booking service.

 

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