Google buys Clever Sense, maker of restaurant-recommendations app Alfred

Google acquisition spree continued Tuesday with the purchase of Clever Sense, a Mountain View company that seeks to connect users with offline interests. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Clever Sense is known for its restaurant-recommendations app, Alfred, which launched in July for the iPhone and just last week for Google's Android mobile operating system. Users enter restaurants they like into the app, and it scours the Web to offer recommendations based on taste, price and location.

The app is part of the company's "mission to curate the world around us," cofounder and CEO Babak Pahlavan said in a posting on the company's website announcing the acquisition, and he added that Google shares that mission.

"Google helps local businesses connect with potential customers, and its worldwide presence can bring the value of Clever Sense to a much larger audience," he wrote.

Google, also based in Mountain View, agreed in an emailed statement that the companies were a good match because of a similar goal: Using the Web to help people navigate the offline world.

"The Clever Sense team is at the forefront of developing a recommendation engine that connects the online and offline worlds by delivering personal and sophisticated information to users at the right time, the right place and within the right context. By combining their technology and expertise with our team and products, we'll be able to provide even more people with intelligent, personalized recommendations for places to eat, visit and discover," a Google spokeswoman wrote.

Among Google's company-record 57 acquisitions in the first three quarters of 2011 was storied restaurant-recommendations company Zagat, which it agreed to purchase for $151 million in September.