Google is buying another old-school media property, this time announcing that it has gobbled up the well known Frommer’s travel guidebooks. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, and Google confirmed the deal this morning. The Journal notes that it is unclear whether the physical guidebooks will continue to be published, and reports that the new unit could be combined with the Zagat restaurant review business that Google purchased last year.
The Frommer’s unit was sold by John Wiley & Sons, which put the travel guidebook publisher up for sale earlier this year. In a release, Frommer’s said that proceeds from the sale “will be redeployed to support growth opportunities in Professional/Trade; Scientific, Technical, Medical, and Scholarly; and Global Education businesses.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition could put Google in closer competition with TripAdvisor, which spun off from Expedia earlier this year. It also creates a new rival to travel guidebook publishers such as Rick Steves who is based in Edmonds.
Frommer’s was started in 1957 by Arthur Frommer who built the business around the Europe on $5 a Day titles.
