How Google Has Completely Botched Zagat

Google bought Zagat, the guide to restaurants around the country, in 2011Photograph by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times via Redux

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By Sam Grobart

August 1, 2013 at 12:41 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Since being acquired by Google in 2011 for $125 million, Zagat has been in turnaround. That changed Monday when Google reintroduced Zagat to the world as a free site and mobile app for Android and iOS. But today the world needs another restaurant app like it needs another 11-course tasting menu. I currently have six dining-related apps on my phone—already more than I need. Do I really need another?

It’s a tough sell to begin with, and the Zagat app lost me at the welcome screen. It opens with tiles of dining stories like “Post Exhibition Eats: Great Restaurants Near the Met” and “Behind the Top-Rated Sushi at Austin’s Uchi.”