Google has acquired travel guidebook publisher Frommer's from John Wiley & Sons for an undisclosed amount, a Google spokesperson has confirmed.
"The Frommer's team and the quality and scope of their content will be a great addition to the Zagat team," the spokesperson said. "We can’t wait to start working with them on our goal to provide a review for every relevant place in the world.”
Wiley has been publicly seeking a buyer for Frommer's since early March.
Google will likely integrate Frommer's reviews of hotels and destinations in the same way that it has baked Zagat's reviews of restaurants into its search and Maps products. That way, when consumers are seeking out places to visit, they'll read reviews on Google -- where Google can serve them targeted advertising -- rather than clicking over to popular destinations like TripAdvisor or Fodor's.
The acquisition is a threat not only to other online travel guides, but also to the companies, like Kayak, which have integrated Frommer's content onto their own sites.
And what of the printed guides themselves? According to The Wall Street Journal, Google has not yet decided whether they will continue to be published in print or become purely digital.