Zagat Internet Listings
 

Read an article this week that indicated Zagat will start charging a subscriber's fee of $14.95 per year to access the restaurant listings. Can Fodors be far behind?

Fodor's could never get away charging for this crap! Most of the talk on here is over who has the best trailer home.

All that means is I will stop going to the Zagat's site.<BR><BR>I doubt Fodors would start charging. The website is great advertising for their products. They get more value in marketing and promotion through the site than they do through the popups. No other travel book publisher has as vibrant and informative an online community as they do.<BR><BR>I can understand why Zagats would consider charging while Fodors would not. Whenever we go to visit a new place, we definitely buy the Fodors and post a question at the website. I have never bought the Zagats, although I go to its website often. I get the one for my hometown free because I submit a review. Zagats subject matter is too narrow to support the book business model.

I have been amazed that Zagat has let us use their site for free all this time.<BR>The info is as good as in their books, but easier to access.<BR>I am positive that the free web access must have cut down on their book sales.<BR><BR>Zagat should have cut us off long ago.<BR>(But I still won't buy their books. Nor would I pay for Fodor's...which is much less useful).

Re Fodors charging: I disagree with the second xxx (can't you folks think of some name so we can tell you apart?). since I have been coming to this site (about 2 years now) I haven't bothered to buy a new Fodors book, even though I had been a regular buyer of their guidebooks - all the info is downloadable (and more current) directly from the website, not to mention the bulletin boards. My guess is that their revenue from book sales is falling, perhaps being replaced by the click-through charges to their advertisers?

This may be the only time I agree with an x poster. This is a 1st for me and will probably be the last. As far Fodors not charging they will give it time cauise this site is the pits. Its gone down hill for the last two years.

You just had to use a capital X to appear superior, didn't you?