Google May Finally Be Giving Up on Its $151 Million Bet on Zagat


Skift Take

You can only lean on a decades-long history for so long. In the new frontier of restaurant reviews, recommendations from social circles are winning the day.

Alphabet, Inc.’s Google may sell off its ownership of the Zagat restaurant guides, Reuters reports. Google purchased Zagat for $151 million in 2011, giving the search engine a cache of expert reviews in over 100 markets with which to fight off Yelp's growing power in local listings as well as counter what was at that time a rapidly growing local deals threat from brands including Groupon. But instead of investing in Zagat or growing the digital or print operations, Google let the brand slowly wither through shrinking coverage, halting most publishing, and killing Zagat's distinctive ratings system. Google has in recent years downplayed its Zagat content and instead used a network of local experts connected largely through its Google Maps product to add user reviews to restaurants and other businesses. Zagat still exists in Goog