With Frommer’s under its arm, the search giant can push more ads in the lucrative local service marketplace. Although no immediate decision has been made on Frommer’s print guidebooks, Google states that the company’s data will be integrated with Zagat restaurant review section.
Wiley signed a deal with Google on Friday, the company said today, to sell all of its travel assets, which includes the Frommer’s brand. It was not yet clear what Google might have planned for Frommer’s, and a purchase price has not been divulged.
It is not all that surprising that Google has jumped in to swipe Frommer’s. Frommer’s, a name well-known and admired by consumers for its travel guides to destinations around the world, is being acquired by Google as the search giant continues to seek richer troves of content that can help it increase online local search ad revenue.
The company has been keenly making a significant push into travel space since the last couple of years with its acquisitions of travel software provider ITA and restaurant reviewer Zagat. Presumably Frommer’s is a natural extension of the Zagat purchase.
“The Frommer’s team and the quality and scope of their content will be a great addition to the Zagat team,” a Google spokesperson informed CNET in an e-mailed statement. “We can not wait to commence working with them on our goal to provide a review for every relevant place in the world.”
In fact, this latest deal indicates that Google will get the Frommer’s name and all of its travel assets from publisher John Wiley & Sons as the publisher continues to shed some of its consumer print and digital products, according to an Aug. 13 announcement from Wiley. That includes Frommer’s, culinary, general interest, nautical, pets, crafts, Webster’s New World, and CliffsNotes.
Interestingly, the move will include another big name to Google’s brand stable. Last September, Google acquired Zagat, another well-known company that aggregates reviews on restaurants, nightspots, hotels and other attractions from more than 350,000 surveyors around the world.
Besides Zagat acquisition, the search company unfurled an update to its Google+ social networking service dubbed as Google+ Local in May of this year, which integrated those reviews into business listings.
Nevertheless, the move is a sensible one for Google, especially after the Zagat purchase, according to Karsten Weide, a new media analyst with IDC.
“It underscores their commitment to build out both travel and local service, which is really what these two acquisitions are about,” said Weide. “Our IDC estimates show that about half of all online advertising spending is in local markets. There is a lot of money to be made.”
However, a price tag and terms of the deal were not being disclosed, according to both companies.