Fans of geolocation marketing must be smiling today. I am.

Google has just announced their acquisition of the well-known restaurant guide Zagat Survey. Personally, I think it’s a great marriage as Google needs solid content and Zagat needed some firepower as it was rapidly becoming less and less relevant with the wave of competition they are up against. According to Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of their localized services, “Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering.”

“See it to believe it” brands like sports, theatre and travel should look very closely at this acquisition. First, there will be a clear opportunity in the short-term to advertise to prospects based on where they are interested in dining through this new Google and Zagat partnership. Yes, opportunities like this currently exist but I think this will take it up a notch on mobile devices now that Google is involved. But, more importantly, this represents a clear trend for the future that many new opportunities will open up through mobile commerce probably faster than you may already expect. Google has a tendency to accelerate trends once they get involved.

I think Mike Blumenthal sums up the acquisition best.

A Google stat suggests that restaurants make up 29.6% of mobile search queries. The buy appears to make sense, especially as location-based services are added into mobile devices and products. Features like restaurant reviews and recommendations could not only drive online searches into in-store sales, but geographic location-ad targeting, too.

Read on.