Google Acquires Travel Guide Company Frommer’s

Google has purchased travel guide company Frommer’s at a cost of $25 million. The acquisition has not yet completed but is all but signed and delivered according to sources close to the deal.

In September 2011, Google acquired social restaurant reviews website Zagat after years of claiming it had no interest in entering the content creation business. With Zagat focusing on restaurants and Frommer’s focused on hotels and various other travel locations, it’s quite possible that Google will combine the two companies into a top travel reviews destination.

Google on Monday said it was purchasing Frommer’s in an attempt to attract further advertising dollars from the online-travel booking and local-business sectors.

Google is purchasing the popular and trusted destinations company from John Wiley & Sons, which was trading down -0.52 percent after the acquisition was announced.

Acquisitions by the search engine have traditionally been rolled into its search results. For example, in 2010, Google acquired ITA, a travel company that allowed the company to create instant airline search and airfare pricing features via Google.com.

Google+ could also benefit from the acquisition as more Google+ business listings can be automatically integrated via the Frommer’s travel guides data. By combining systems, a more complete view of a specific area can be shown via Google Search, Google Maps, and other Google platforms.

Frommer’s and Zagat have the unique advantage of providing professional reviews next to consumer reviews, both of which could provide Google with one of the most authoritative travel guide platforms on the internet.

Do you think the Frommer acquisition was a wise move by Google?