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    Google reportedly discontinuing print copies of Frommer's travel guides after buying company

    Google reportedly discontinuing print copies of Frommer's travel guides after buying company

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    frommers logo stock 1020
    frommers logo stock 1020

    Google is reportedly discontinuing all future print editions of the once-popular Frommer's series of travel guides, according to a report by travel website Skift today. The move comes just seven months after Google purchased Frommer's from the publishing company John Wiley & Sons (Wiley's) for a price said to be around $25 million.

    The decision appears to be a sudden one

    The decision appears to be a sudden one. Skift reports that a Frommer's guide book that was expected to be published on February 19, Frommer's New York City with Kids, never saw the light of day, yet still has a live Amazon listing. That book and an unknown number of planned future volumes have been permanently shelved, according to the report. Print guide books don't exactly gel with Google's web and mobile priorities, so this outcome isn't exactly surprising. But it is curious given that Google was offering discounts on print editions of another destination guide company it purchased, Zagat, as late as the end of last year. Google bought Zagat in 2011 to combine its restaurant scores and database with Google+, and is thought to have bought Frommer's for similar reasons. Google declined to provide further information on the situation to The Verge.