After acquiring Motorola Mobility in May, Google is now shutting down a third of the division's 90 locations and laying off 4,000 employees, representing 20% of the total employees in the unit.

Google says that Motorola Mobility has lost money in 14 of the last 16 quarters, and it will need to shift focus from standard wireless phones to "more profitable devices."

The division is based in Libertyville, Illinois, and Google is said to have acquired the company for $12.5 billion in order to gain access to its more than 17,000 patents.

And in other acquisitions news, Google has acquired the Frommer's guidebook brand, and will combine it with their existing Zagat team to build on their local commerce content. Google is after the sort of advertising dollars from local businesses that Yelp has enjoyed, and in a statement they say, "The Frommer's team and the quality and scope of their content will be a great addition to the Zagat team. We can't wait to start working with them on our goal to provide a review for every relevant place in the world."

[CBS]
[Mercury-News]
[Tribune]