(AP Photo)

Google Inc. paid $125 million for restaurant-review company  Zagat,  the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

When Google announced the acquisition on Thursday through its company blog, it did not disclose a purchase price.

Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of location and local services, praised the 32-year old publishing company in a Google blog post on Thursday.

Zagat rates restaurants and other businesses, in competition with similar services  like the free site Yelp, which is a private company, and TripAdvisor, which Expedia Inc. plans to spin off in the third quarter.

Zagat’s reported purchase price  was much lower than a  previous estimate for  competitor Yelp, whose valuation was estimated as high as $475 million in January 2010, when Elevation Partners announced plans to invest $100 million in the web company.