Google Buys Zagat

​Two years ago, Google tried to plunk down $500 million for a little site called Yelp. But that didn't pan out; the deal fell apart. Then it launched a competing site called Places and hoped that it would get the same amount of free, user-generated content that Yelp, for better or for worse, seems to enjoy in spades. That didn't go so well either, as they had to eventually remove reviews from Yelp itself that previously filled in holes in their Places database.

Now apparently still hungry for the localized advertising dollars that food review sites like Yelp rake in, Google has bought Zagat, which comes with its ready trove of restaurant review data, for better or for worse. Terms of the deal hasn't been disclosed.

Founders Tim and Nina Zagat said in a statement on their site: "We couldn't be happier to see our baby placed into such good hands and are looking forward to being Googlers in the years ahead."

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