Why Google Bought Frommer’s (For Nothing)

The news that Google is buying Frommer’s elicited a gut reaction that’s starting to feel familiar: Google is a search company, so what the heck is it doing buying content? What’s Google doing? What it has been doing for years: YouTube has put up hundreds of millions of dollars for video production; Android’s Andy Rubin licenses music and magazines for Google Play; Google even was in the bidding to buy Hulu from its major media company owners.

Frommer’s may have a well-known name, but the buy is only costing Google a reported $23 million — or basically nothing in Google terms. The property will be absorbed into Zagat, which reportedly cost all of $125 million. What’s slightly different about the Frommer’s deal is that the travel guidebook creator had an editorial team to write its content, whereas Zagat was perhaps one of the first user-generated content services. But if you look at the language Google is now using, it’s grouping all this local and travel content as “reviews.” Google said the Frommer’s deal will help it fill in reviews for venues all over the world.

The reason Google wants to bring this particular type of content in-house? Search is increasingly about answers (at least as long as those European regulators don’t get in the way). That’s especially true on mobile.