Google is saying "feh" and "bye" to Zagat's cumbersome 30-point scale for restaurant reviews and local businesses.
Now users can rank eateries with a much simpler system, using four categories: "Excellent," "Very good," "Good" and "Poor-Fair."
Megan Stevenson explained the changes in a Google+ post. Google bought Zagat a year ago.
The Zagat system isn't completely gone, however. Stevenson wrote that "behind the scenes," Google will convert reviewers' ratings into numbers "and factor them into the business' precise 30-point score that shows up in Google+, Search and Maps."
As Matt McGee of Search Engine Land notes, while the Zagat scores will still be visible in those places, "eliminating the numerical scoring from review writing and review displays may be — and should be — a step toward eliminating the Zagat scoring system altogether."
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