Google returns travel guides

Google is returning the Frommer's travel-guide brand to its founder, while keeping the other content it acquired from publisher John Wiley & Sons in August.

Google, the world's largest internet search engine, acquired Frommer's last year, adding about 350 travel guides and the Frommers.com travel-planning website. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed at the time.

The content from Frommer's, which has been integrated with Google's services, will be retained, Google said yesterday. The search provider is offering more of its own content to web surfers by adding information on hotels and restaurants around the world, a bid to attract users and advertisers from sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor.

"We're focused on providing high-quality local information to help people quickly discover and share great places, like a nearby restaurant or the perfect vacation destination," Google said.

"That's why we've spent the last several months integrating the travel content we acquired from Wiley."

Founder Arthur Frommer will license "certain travel content" from Google, the company said.

Google also bought restaurant-guide publisher Zagat Survey LLC in 2011, integrating it with its own social network, Google+.

Google shares declined 1.4 per cent to $795.07 at yesterday's close in New York.

The stock has gained 12 per cent this year.

TripAdvisor rose less than 1 per cent to $49.52 and Yelp climbed 2.7 per cent to $US23.67.