Investopedia: Google Thinks Global, Buys Local

It's fair to wonder if there are many companies more schizophrenic than Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) right now. Still a dominant name in Internet search and online advertising, the company is trying to push its Android operating system for phones and tablets, expanding further into cloud computing, and buying hardware company Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI). And now the company is adding another business to its roster with the acquisition of privately-held Zagat Survey.

The Deal
Because the deal for Zagat is so small, Google does not have a legal compulsion to release many details about the transaction. Given that it appears that no federal antitrust review is called for, that suggests a deal value below $66 million (the current threshold for Clayton Act reviews). Going a step further, if online information and service companies like Bankrate (Nasdaq:RATE), Morningstar (Nasdaq:MORN) and Expedia (Nasdaq:EXPE) are decent benchmarks for valuation, that suggests Zagat could have a revenue base somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million to $30 million - not really an earth-shaking deal for a company with over $33 billion in trailing revenue.

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