Having ran a travel directory site for a bit I'm always interested in Google's ambitions in the space. I still haven't completely understood why Google bought Z

Having ran a travel directory site for a bit I'm always interested in Google's ambitions in the space. I still haven't completely understood why Google bought Zagat, and now Frommer's is a bit odd as well. My theories - 1) Small business relationships - well established relationships with long-established small businesses that may never have tried advertising online. Every listing is a potential new Adwords customer. I know someone who worked with Zagat and the 1st thing they did was swap out the ad network, so I'd say this is reason #1. These guys have very trusting and loyal ad partners 2) Brand recognition and perception of quality control in consumer listings. 3) Databases - its really hard to get a complete database of small business info from foreign countries. Googlebot is just never going to as good of a job cleaning up this content as a decent editorial staff. These guys have been intricately compiling and updating DBs of eateries and attractions for decades. 4) The guidebooks - I doubt the revenue from selling paper guidebooks means much to Google, but it might be a lesson in selling digital content, who knows 5) They acquired them both for a steal. A bunch of editors working for peanuts, content and new adwords customers scooped up at a fire sale.