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Tag: Zagat

  • Google Removes Some Zagat Reviews, Says Overall Ratings For Businesses May Be Affected

    Some businesses may soon find that their ratings on Google have changed for better or for worse. They’re doing away with old anonymous Zagat reviews – the ones where the person’s name is “A Zagat User.”

    Google’s Jade Wang wrote in the Google and Your Business forum (via Barry Schwartz):

    To show a consistent reviews experience to our users, reviews that are labeled by “A Zagat User” are being removed from Google products. Reviews from Google users will still appear as usual, and users can still contribute reviews. This may affect the overall rating for some businesses.

    Remember, verified business owners can respond to reviews or report inappropriate reviews.

    If your business has a lot of negative anonymous reviews from Zagat, this is probably good news. If it has a lot of positive ones, then perhaps not so much.

    Either way, Google has been migrating away from anonymity in reviews for quite a while. When it migrated to the Google+ Local model for local search, it started requiring users to be signed into their Google accounts to leave reviews. Still, Google continued to show anonymous reviews that said “A Google User” for new reviews for sometime after that. It still displays these for older reviews.

    Image via BayhomeConsignment.blogspot.com

  • Google Launches New Zagat (Desktop, Android, iOS)

    Google announced the launch of a new Zagat experience across the website and Android and iOS apps. Included is free access to its “trusted” Zagat ratings and reviews without registration (for the first time).

    Here’s a look:

    New Zagat

    New Zagat - mobile

    The new experience includes news and video content from Zagat editors, as well as curated lists, search and map-based browsing.

    “These days, the challenge in deciding where to go is not about about a lack of information or user reviews, but finding accurate information and trusted opinions so you can quickly make informed decisions,” says Gannon Hall, Group Product Manager and Head of Zagat. “Through our digital products—and the Google products you use every day like the new Google Maps for Mobile—you can rely on Zagat’s curated lists and summary reviews to cut through the clutter so you can find the perfect spot.”

    “The new Zagat covers restaurants and nightlife in nine cities, and over the coming months we plan to expand to 50 U.S. and international destinations and cover shopping, hotels and other places of interest,” says Hall. “We know that many of you are eager to have continued access to our content in these markets, so in advance of this expansion, we’ll soon make our existing ratings and reviews available on Zagat.com.”

    Last week, news came out that Google is shutting down the Google+ Local app for iOS. The company pointed users to the new Google Maps. Now, users can consider the new Zagat app as well for their local search needs.

  • Google Launches New Zagat App For Android (And It’s Free)

    Google has launched a new Zagat app for Android devices in one of a handful of recent Google+ Local-related announcements from the company. And in case you were wondering, it does come with a Google flavor.

    “While our ratings and reviews were always available in guidebooks and to paid digital subscribers, a few months ago, we announced our integration into Google+ Local to help more people easily access Zagat scores, editorial reviews and recommendations,’ says Zagat Managing Director Bernardo Hernandex. “Now, we’re making the mobile app experience more consistent with the one you’re already accustomed to across Google+ Local, Google Search and Google Maps.”

    “Through our app you can browse thousands of restaurants in the world’s top destinations and refine your search with more than 100 filters and special features that matter to you, like whether the place has outdoor seating, or is child-friendly,” he adds. “Simply sign-in to Google+ to get the most from the app and to share your experiences with the Google+ community.”

    The app (unlike the old Zagat app) is free. Here’s what it looks like:

    Zagat App

    Zagat App

    Zagat App

    Google has also adjusted the ratings system for Google+ Local on the desktop to reflect recent changes made to Google Maps for Android, offering a users a simplified rating system, which Google then uses to calculate its 30-point scores.

    Google has also added a Local section to user profiles, which link to the users’ reviews they have written for Google.

  • Google Adjusts Ratings System For Google+ Local

    Google Adjusts Ratings System For Google+ Local

    Google has been rolling out an update to its local ratings system. As you may recall, Google recently made some changes to the system on Google Maps for Android, so users can choose between Poor/Fair, Good, Very Good, and Excellent. A similar system is now hitting the desktop experience.

    Google’s Megan Stevenson posted the following to Google+ on Wednesday:

    Megan Stevenson

    Megan Stevenson18 hours ago

    Update to the Reviewing Scale on Google+ Local

    Today it’s easier than ever to write accurate, useful reviews on Google+ Local, thanks to the updated rating scale we rolled out. If you want to rate the food at a restaurant, or the quality of a mechanic, just choose "poor – fair," “good,” “very good,” or "excellent". Behind the scenes, we’ll convert your ratings into numbers and factor them into the business' precise 30-point score that shows up in Google+, Search and Maps. 

    Give it a try! Click on the Google+ Local icon in the left navigation bar, search for a local spot and click "Write a review.” Happy reviewing!

    54    2 Powered by socialditto

    When Google announced the Android changes, it also launched “favorite” stars on the desktop experience (or brought them back rather).

    Google’s ratings system, since the implementation of Google+ Local (taking the place of the old Google Places) has been the subject of some controversy with local businesses. Some claimed to be losing clicks, and others have had issues with reviews being deleted.

  • Google Buys Frommer’s, the Travel Guidebook Brand

    The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is buying Frommer’s, the travel guide book brand, from publisher John Wiley & Sons. Details of the acquisition are sparse, and the price paid for Frommer’s has not been revealed.

    According to All Things D, the deal is “not a huge one,” since Wiley had put Frommer’s up for sale some time ago. Wiley announced on March 7 of this year that Frommer’s, Webster’s New World, CliffsNotes, and other publishing assets were up for sale, as they “No loger align with the company’s long-term business strategy.” Wiley said in a statement today that proceeds from the Frommer’s sale will go to support its global education business, as well as its trade, scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publications.

    A Google spokesperson told All Things D that the Frommer’s brand and content will be added to Zagat, a restaurant review website that Google acquired late last year. Frommer’s staff will also be incorporated into Zagat.

    Zagat reviews were implemented into Google Maps and Google+ Local pages earlier this year. It’s easy to see why Google would consider decades of Frommer’s travel guides and reviews a good addition to their products, particularly considering its more localized search focus in recent years.

    Frommer’s publishing began in 1957, when Arthur Frommer adapted a European guidebook he had written for American soldiers. The civilian version of the book, Europe on $5 a Day, proved popular and Frommer continued to self-publish guidebooks. Frommer’s now has over 300 regularly updated guidebooks and the Frommers.com travel website.

  • Google+ Local Searches For The Ryan Gosling Of Bathrooms

    Yes, you read the headline right. Following various Google Twitter accounts, you’ll often come across some interesting tweets. A few minutes ago, for example, Google Boston representing Google+ Local specifically, tweeted:

    Several questions immediately come to mind. For one, what is the Ryan Gosling of bathrooms? Secondly, why is Google+ Local searching for it? Why are they using a hashtag called #SexyBathrooms? What makes a bathroom sexy? Has anyone that isn’t associated with Google ever used the #SexyBathrooms hashtag?

    If you follow the hashtag, some of your questions are answered. Google+ Local is promoting a Zagat post: 9 Sexy Bathrooms From Restaurants Around the U.S.

    I don’t know what your’e supposed to do with any of this information, but apparently Google+ Local finds Ryan Gosling and bathrooms both to be sexy.

    Having viewed the Zagat slideshow, I’m afraid that I did not find myself aroused by any of the imagery they’ve produced. I guess that’s why they’re still searching.

  • Google’s New Local Ratings Costing Businesses Clicks?

    It seems that Google’s decision to replace its star rating system with Zagat scores for local search results isn’t a huge hit with some businesses.

    Do you like Google’s new approach to local business ratings? Let us know in the comments.

    Last month, Google revealed what appears to be the primary reason it acquired Zagat, when it announced Google+ Local, effectively replacing Google Places with Google+ infused local results and Zagat scores.

    “Each place you see in Google+ Local will now be scored using Zagat’s 30-point scale, which tells you all about the various aspects of a place so you can make the best decisions,” Google explained, when Google+ Local was announced. “For example, a restaurant that has great food but not great decor might be 4 stars, but with Zagat you’d see a 26 in Food and an 8 in Decor, and know that it might not be the best place for date night.”

    Some businesses claim to be losing traffic because Google replaced its ratings system with Zagat’s scoring system. Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable points to an interesting thread in the Google Product Forums.

    There, Dr. Rodney McKay writes, “I know for a fact that I am not the only one that feels this way as I have talked to others who have also experienced the same problem. Everything about Google+ seems to be fine if not better than Google Places except for the removal of the stars. Ever since they removed the star ratings, my actions or clicks went from 30 – 60 or more a day to 0 – 5. I am still on the first page of Google for relevant search terms and in most cases I am also the first listing, I am also receiving the same amount of impressions as before, but the absence of the stars has caused an obvious hit on my Google Business Listing effectiveness. Injunction with that, I have seen a drastic decline in business. Is there not a way to compromise and use the Zagat reviews as well as the stars?”

    Some have suggested that Zagat scores are more suited to restaurants, and aren’t so great for other kinds of businesses. There’s no question that Zagat has historically been restaurant-focused. Even now, if you go to Zagat.com, it’s all about restaurants. The welcome message says:

    ZAGAT.com, the world’s original provider of user-generated content, provides trusted and accurate restaurant ratings and curated restaurant reviews for thousands of top restaurants worldwide. Our robust restaurant search and rich free features help diners easily find the best restaurant for every occasion, every time – from New York to Los Angeles, London to Tokyo, Paris to Beijing and everywhere in between; from the most elegant restaurants for fine dining to casual, inexpensive spots for family meals, you’ll find it all on ZAGAT.com.

    Yet Google has thrust the Zagat system across the much broader local business search space. I don’t see why the system couldn’t actually help some businesses, as Zagat is a pretty well known restaurant guide. However, it might be less helpful in other industries. Currently, you can search for shoe stores, for example, and still get the new scoring system, rather than the starred reviews:

    John's run walk shop

    It’s a somewhat confusing system, given the food element of Zagat. When you click to “learn more about our scores and reviews,” Google explains that you may see scores depicted in one of two ways: “Scores with multiple aspects” or “Overall scores”.

    Multiple Aspects

    overall scores

    As we see in the case of the shoe store above, Google shows the overall. That way it doesn’t have to show the “food” element.

    “When we don’t have enough user ratings on different aspects, we will just show an overall score,” Google explains. “An overall score is comparable to a score in the primary aspect for a location, like food for restaurants.”

    Perhaps the system will get better in time for more than just restaurants, as it’s used more.

    The new system is definitely much broader than the previous star system, given its larger scale. 17 out of 30 doesn’t sound incredibly great but if you look at the scale, 16-20 represents “good to very good”. 0- 30 is pretty wide range to cover the four individual ratings Google goes by:

    3 Excellent
    2 Very Good
    1 Good
    0 Poor to Fair

    Google takes the average, and multiplies it by ten to come up with averaged scores.

    One person comment on Schwartz’s article, “People understand star ratings. Any kind of visual rating (progress bars, stars, thumbs-ups) just works. They don’t understand numbers. And when higher ratings are in red… it’s even worse. Numbers in red usually mean danger. Anything in red means danger unless it’s properly used to grab attention and visibly labeled as a call to action. It’s freaking common sense.”

    It would be interesting to know the local SEO effects of Googe’s move to the Zagat system. Survey results released this week indicate that many of the top ranking factors are directly related to reviews. Here are how a few of them ranked, according to that (out of the top 90):

    7. Quantity of Native Google Places Reviews (w/text) (REVIEWS)
    18. Product/Service Keywords in Reviews (REVIEWS)
    24. Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews (REVIEWS)
    26. Location Keywords in Reviews (REVIEWS)
    31. Velocity of Native Google Places Reviews (REVIEWS)
    34. Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) (REVIEWS)
    46. High Numerical Ratings by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Multiple Places Reviewers, etc) (REVIEWS)
    49. Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party) (REVIEWS)
    50. Quantity of Third-Party Unstructured Reviews (REVIEWS)
    52. Quantity of Native Google Places Ratings (no text) (REVIEWS)
    53. High Numerical Ratings of Place by Google Users (e.g. 4-5) (REVIEWS)
    62. Velocity of Third-Party Reviews (REVIEWS)
    69. High Numerical Third-Party Ratings (e.g. 4-5) (REVIEWS)
    74. Positive Sentiment in Reviews (REVIEWS)

    Of course, these are all based on survey responses from before Google announced Google+ Local.

    What do you think about Google’s new ratings system? Do you like it better or worse? Let us know in the comments.

  • Google+ Local Reveals Google’s Plan For Zagat

    Google has announced that it’s rolling out Google+ Local, which it bills as “a simple way to discover and share local information”.

    Google is finally revealing just what it’s going to do with it’s Zagat acquisition, as Google+ Local features Zagat scores, as well as recommendations from Google+ connections. “Since Zagat joined the Google family last fall, our teams have been working together to improve the way you find great local information,” says Director of Product Management, Avni Shah. “Zagat has offered high-quality reviews, based on user-written submissions and surveys, of tens of thousands of places for more than three decades. All of Zagat’s accurate scores and summaries are now highlighted on Google+ local pages. ”

    Google+ Local is also integrated into search, Google Maps and mobile (Android…iOS is on the way). Inside Google+, it has its own tab. When you use that tab, you can search for specific places or browse non-specific ones. When you click on a place, you’ll go to a local Google+ page with photos, Zagat scores, summaries, reviews from friends and other info, like hours of operation, address, etc. Google will show you the same info if your’e using Search or Maps, it says.

    Here’s what it looks like on Google+:

    Google Plus Local

    Maps:

    Google Plus Local on Maps

    Google+ Local on mobile:

    Google Plus Local on Mobile

    “Each place you see in Google+ Local will now be scored using Zagat’s 30-point scale, which tells you all about the various aspects of a place so you can make the best decisions,” says Shah. “For example, a restaurant that has great food but not great decor might be 4 stars, but with Zagat you’d see a 26 in Food and an 8 in Decor, and know that it might not be the best place for date night.”

    Users can share their opinions and photos of places, of course, which will help feed the personalization of your friends’ results.

    Here are a few videos about Google+ Local:

    For Businesses

    Business owners will be able to continue managing their local listings the same way, using Google Places for Business. Businesses can still verify their basic listing data, make updates, and respond to reviews. If you use AdWords Express, Google says your ads will operate as normal, and will automatically redirect customers to the destination you selected, or your current listing.

    Businesses will have to get used to a new layout and design for their listings.

    Google Plus Local Businss Listing

    “All your basic business information is still available,” notes Jen Fitzpatrick, VP Engineering. “And by streamlining the layout and putting more focus on photos and reviews, we hope to help you highlight what makes your business truly unique.”

    “With these updates, we’re connecting the millions of people on Google+ to local businesses around the world,” adds Fitzpatrick. “With one listing, your business can now be found across Google search, maps, mobile and Google+, and your customers can easily recommend your business to their friends, or tell the world about it with a review.”

    Google posted the following to its Google+ Your Business Page:

    <a href=Google+ Your Business” width=”50″ />
    Google+ Your Business   21 minutes ago Posted by +Vanessa Schneider

    Manage a Google Places page? That listing just got a simpler, cleaner look with the introduction of Google+ Local, a new way to discover businesses across Google.

    With Google+ Local, customers can now easily recommend your business to their friends, or tell the world about it with a review. We’ve added +Zagat reviews and updated our scoring system to their 30-point scale, allowing customers to better share what makes your business unique. Google+ Local is integrated into Search, Maps, mobile and as a new tab in Google+ (just look for “Local” along the left to get started). We are rolling out today, so if you don’t see it now, you’ll see it soon.

    Read more about what this means for you as a business owner over on the Google and Your Business Blog (http://goo.gl/bVi9Q), or check out our quick guide to what’s new (http://goo.gl/p1dni).

    Have feedback to share? Use the “Send feedback” link under the Google+ gear icon 52   11 Powered by socialditto

    Google says this is just a first step, that we’ll see more updates in the upcoming months, and that it will soon make it easier to manage listings on Google and take full advantage of the social features of Google+ pages, such as Hangouts, and sharing photos/videos/posts.

    Google has already given a handful of businesses access to such functionality. Check out The Meatball Shop for an example.

  • Pulse News Launches Local Feature

    News application Pulse announced today that it’s launching Local, a new category that allows users to easily discover what’s going on around them, including news, sports, food and deals. Pulse local “will always keep you in the know.”

    pulse local

    Pulse Local has partnered with Patch, and affords users access to local knowledge in hundreds of communities. It also include CBS Local News, keeping users current on breaking news, sports, traffic and weather. Flavorpill keeps local events organized.

    As for Local’s new “deals” category, Pulse has partnered with Groupon, Living Social and Gilt City. For all things sports, Local includes feeds from SBNation, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports and others. Zagat covers local food offerings.

    pulse

    As of last week, BBC News content is also available with Pulse, and is currently in its Featured Section.

    According to the Pulse website, the company was “founded in May 2010 by Ankit Gupta and Akshay Kothari, two Stanford graduate students as part of a course at the Institute of Design. The inspiration for Pulse was borne out of their frustration with the news reading experience on mobile devices. Pulse has been selected as one of 50 apps in Apple’s App Store Hall of Fame and named one of TIME’s top 50 iPhone apps of 2011.”

  • Google Acquired 79 Companies In Fiscal Year 2011

    If you’re having trouble sleeping this weekend, I suggest pouring over the entire 99-page report of Google’s 10-K for the 2011 fiscal year. It. Is. Dry.

    However, the crew over at 9to5Google are more dedicated Google readers than I am and, from the document, tallied up that Google added 79 companies to their empire for the everyday low price of $2 billion. Some of the companies you might recognize: Motorola (this one’s still pending approval), ITA Software, AdMob, On2 Technologies, and a new office building in NYC (that’s kind of an unofficial acquisition, right?). In the document, Google claims that “These acquisitions generally enhance the breadth and depth of our expertise in engineering and other functional areas, our technologies, and our product offerings.”

    The 9to5Google folks pointed out some other acquisitions that I didn’t find in the document: Zagat, DailyDeal, Dealmap, and Admeld.

    With all those acquisitions happening, they’re not just gonna run themselves, are they? No, they’re not, so Google brought some more hands on deck in 2011 – over 32,000 pairs of hands, in fact, that were connected to 32,000 new employees.

    And if you think this is big, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet because Google was clear about their plans for this year:

    Our plans to continue to invest in systems, facilities, and infrastructure, increase our hiring, provide competitive compensation programs, and continue our current pace of acquisitions.

    Place your bets now on which company will be carrying the Google banner by this time next year.

  • Zagat On Holiday Tipping

    Zagat On Holiday Tipping

    If you’re wondering how much tipping you should be doing this holiday season, Zagat has just the infographic for you (pictured below).

    The averages, Zagat (recently acquired by Google) says, are based on results from their 2011 holiday tipping survey, which it ran a couple weeks ago.

    “And, most of you are giving money to those you plan to tip, a cash gift ranked above a gift certificate, bottle of wine or baked goods as the number one lay out to thank the folks who serve you throughout the year,” Zagat’s James Mulcahy says. “But, you won’t be stuffing a little more into their envelope – a 79% majority of survey respondents said that they will tip the same as last year, with only 15% saying that they will tip more. “

    Holiday tipping

    What do you think of the results? Agree? Disagree?

  • Why Zagat Might Be a Smarter Purchase for Google Than Yelp

    By now you’ve heard the news that Google has purchased Zagat Reviews. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Zagat, it has a worldwide set of reviews that travelers have relied on for decades to choose the right restaurant.  Google famously flamed out in its bid to buy Yelp in 2009, and has finally added the restaurant reviews it has craved. Not everyone thinks that Zagat was a worthy relacement for Yelp. One wag was quoted in TechCrunch as saying, “If you were losing to Wikipedia would your next move be to buy Encyclopedia Britannica?“

    As big a fan as I am of the snarky comment, however, this one doesn’t ring true for me.  I totally understand how Yelp reviews are very important and I see why Google went after them first, but I am left wondering whether Google ended up far better off than people think, perhaps even better off than if they had bought Yelp.

    First, regardless of whether they bought Yelp or Zagat, Google has desperately wanted to have its own reviews to add to its local offerings and now they have them. What’s more, I believe that Zagat reviews have a better brand image than Yelp’s. Whatever advantage Yelp might have had in cachet over Zagat was that Zagat might have seemed old school, but now that Google owns them, you can bet they can overcome any dowdy image that might have dogged them. How long before you see a Zagat app on Android that allows you not only to search for restaurants but to be one of the raters yourself?

    Then, there is the question of the price. That same TechCrunch article linked above pegs the price at somewhere below $66 million, because there is no government review needed for acquisitions under that price. Contrast that to the half-billion dollars reportedly rejected by Yelp. Even if you print money the way Google does, having an extra $400+ million to spend on other things can’t hurt. They could buy six more content companies the size of Zagat, for example and still have some change left over.

    But people who criticize this deal are missing something else. Zagat is not like Encyclopedia Britannica, because Zagat reviews are not written by one person based on one opinion. Zagat’s has a system that uses hundreds of thousands of surveys to combine for their restaurant ratings. Their system is full of fact checkers and other checks and balances to make sure that the reviews are accurate.

    Now, think about that. Suppose you take that systematic process that Zagat has painstakingly worked out over the years and you hand it to Google. Google could very easily start with Zagat reviews and then add a social media ratings and review component that allows Zagat’s to scale their reviews way higher than they do now. And fact checking of reviews is woefully missing from ratings systems today and sorely needed. Even simple things like, “Is the restaurant still open?” or “Is that phone number still accurate?” would be a major improvement to Google’s local offerings, because Google just doesn’t keep data up to date today.

    So, stay with me here. On top of what Google bought that everyone knows they bought–Zagat’s restaurant ratings–is it possible that Zagat’s system of collecting and curating ratings could be applied to other businesses, too? All of these rating systems have developed the Yelp way, aggregating many ratings of unknown quality. Google, for all of its love of technology, was the first one to implement a search ranking system based on links, allowing the human element to affect search quality–permanently for the better. It wouldn’t shock me if Google wanted to use humans in a scalable process that improved ratings quality.

    But even if this deal is about nothing more than buying a set of restaurant ratings, it is still a very good deal for Google. Expect to see these ratings incorporated into Google forthwith, which is a major improvement for all restaurant searches.

    Check out Biznology for more articles by Mike Moran

  • Zagat Acquired by Google

    Google just announced that it has acquired Zagat. This should be pretty huge for Place Pages.

    Zagat is of course a big name consumer review service.

    On the Official Google Blog, Marissa Mayer writes:

    Moving forward, Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering—delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) experiences around the corner and around the world.

    With Zagat, we gain a world-class team that has more experience in consumer based-surveys, recommendations and reviews than anyone else in the industry. Founded by Tim and Nina Zagat more than 32 years ago, Zagat has established a trusted and well-loved brand the world over, operating in 13 categories and more than 100 cities. The Zagats have demonstrated their ability to innovate and to do so with tremendous insight. Their surveys may be one of the earliest forms of UGC (user-generated content)—gathering restaurant recommendations from friends, computing and distributing ratings before the Internet as we know it today even existed. Their iconic pocket-sized guides with paragraphs summarizing and “snippeting” sentiment were “mobile” before “mobile” involved electronics. Today, Zagat provides people with a democratized, authentic and comprehensive view of where to eat, drink, stay, shop and play worldwide based on millions of reviews and ratings.

    @marissamayer
    marissamayer    Acquisition announcement haiku: Delightful deal done; Zagat and Google now one; foodies have more fun! http://t.co/T2gZ4yC #gogooglelocal 20 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @Zagat
    Zagat Buzz    We’ve just been acquired by Google! http://t.co/kaZH9G6 17 minutes ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto

    What other Googlers are saying (on Google+):

    Vic Gundotra: “+1 to this news!”

    Kavi Harshawat: “Super excited about this! I love Zagat and use them every time I visit a new city.”

    Hunter Walk: “Love Zagat as part of GOOG family. Wrote in 07/08 about their missed opportunity on the web.” He also said, “Pro tip: Zagat (just acq by Google) pronounced like ‘the cat’ not ‘zay-gat’ or ‘zah-gat’”.

    Here’s what others are saying:

    @demandrichard
    Richard Rosenblatt    googles acquisition of zagat is very smart IMO; great quality local content to supplement their local ambitions. SMART. 32 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @WSJ
    Wall Street Journal    OpenTable is down more than 10% after Google announced its acquisition of Zagat http://t.co/lZYl81d 8 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @garyvee
    Gary Vaynerchuk    HUGE! http://t.co/3i1v0M9 Zagat pulled off a huge win here! google is shopping 16 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @stevenjayl
    Steven Levy    Can’t wait to see the Zagat ratings for Google cafes. http://t.co/WcraIKC 29 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @Scobleizer
    Robert Scoble    Wow, Google just bought Zagat. http://t.co/baaJpBB This is HUGE for Google reviews. 34 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @shelholtz
    Shel Holtz    Google wants to be a publisher. They’ve just acquired ZAGAT to feed content into local offerings. http://t.co/l97Iotb (via @IreneKoehler) 7 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @carlyafisher
    Real Carly Fisher    Google-Zagat merger indicates two things: Google has a lot of expendable funds; most people still don’t know what Zagat is. 9 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Terms have not been disclosed.

  • Urbanspoon Adds Zagat Reviews

    Urbanspoon has signed a deal with Zagat that will see over 25,000 Zagat reviews featured prominently on Urbanspoon.

    Urbanspoon tells WebProNews, “”We’re excited to be working with Zagat – the pinnacle of high end restaurant reviews. Providing diners with easy access to Zagat reviews directly on their smartphones will make it even easier to select the best dining options.”   

    “Our goal at Urbanspoon is to give users the most accurate, in-depth look at local restaurants to help inform their decision about what new spots to try and which favorites to keep on their go-to list,” said Urbanspoon GM Kara Nortman. “Bringing in content from Zagat, arguably the most famous name in restaurant reviews, adds another layer of trusted insight to help people find the best restaurants in their cities.”

    Zagat’s ratings and recommendations for restaurants will appear alongside Urbanspoon’s aggregated content. Users will be able to access the reviews along with general business info, photos and related blog posts.

  • Zagat Introduces New Website

    Zagat Introduces New Website

    Restaurant information company Zagat has relaunched its website to include more free content and increased recognition of its user reviews.

    “Zagat has always been a brand powered by people and passion. Having listened to our users, we’ve re-envisioned Zagat.com,” said Nina Zagat, Co-Founder, Zagat Survey.

     

     

    “We’ve greatly expanded our free content, Buzz dining blogs and innovative search tools as a result. The free content allows any user to get search results as potent as anywhere else on the web.”

    New free features on Zagat include:

    *New maps that allow users to search by clicking on a neighborhood, drawing an area on a map, or search by landmark.

    *More member recognition by linking to users’ profiles and a new badge system for active members.

    *Top lists based on survey results along with roundups compiled by Zagat editiors.

    *Links and reviews from third-party sources.

    *The ability for users to upload their own photos of restaurants and dishes along with viewing photos submitted by others.

    Users can also get news on restaurant openings, closings, trends and more via redesigned Zagat Buzz blogs.