Google announced today that it acquired Zagat. Google says Zagat’s 30 point rating system will become the new cornerstone of Google’s local-focused services.

Zagat buzz

Zagat mentions shot up 546% today following Google’s announcement.

Zagat vs. Yelp

Yelp has consistently generated considerably more buzz than Zagat, but should Yelp be concerned?

 

Yesterday Facebook introduced Places, a new feature enabling users to share where they are with their friends, allow them to see who is near them, and allow them to discover new places around them. Though Facebook is enabling location-based services Foursquare, Gowalla, Booyah and Yelp to integrate with Places, many have speculated that Places will lead to the death of these other services.

We used Social Radar to conduct some preliminary analysis on Foursquare vs. Facebook Places.

The chart below shows Foursquare gaining steady increase in chatter over the past year.

But Facebook Places chatter eclipsed Foursquare in less than a day.

Overall buzz around Facebook Places has been slightly negative, with words like ripoff, risk and privacy concern appearing among negative words.

A closer look at the topic cloud around Facebook Places reveals some of the relevant topics of conversation and their sentiment.

So far today, the word Places is appearing in more than 30% of posts related to Foursquare.

Will the trend continue and will Places completely infiltrate all Foursquare conversation and subsequently take users? Or will privacy concerns with Facebook Places keep people using Foursquare and other services where they can limit their friends? As more users begin integrating Facebook Places into their lives, we’ll check back with an update.