A question more open than one might believe : the restorer parisian Xavier Denamur will he bend the giant american TripAdvisor? The deal would make a lot of noise. The owner of the restaurant, Philosophers and four other institutions in the 5th arrondissement, this slayer of the junk food is preparing to lodge a complaint against the famous american website for deception and comparative advertising deceptive
“I’ve never had the need to TripAdvisor to let me know. My restaurant is filled every day and for a long time. And I didn’t care too much in the opinion of customers often anonymous good and sometimes less good, says Xavier Denamur. But I realized that this site, which I refuse to give money for his advice, as well as its subsidiary, booking The Range, offered to reserve a table in restaurants that he says are similar to mine, under the comments relating to my establishment”.
What motivates the anger of the conservator is to be compared to schools that only reheat frozen meals, who proudly wears the logo is a house on its map, and bistros that offer burgers, who has campaigned against the invasion of ground beef stuck in the bread industry. “They used my profile to promote institutions that mislead customers”. He then wrote a letter to Trip Advisor asking him to stop his comparisons and request to be removed from the site. This regular media, even realize a video posted on YouTube, view a million times, in which he calls out the site.
A decision that will be closely observed
Contacted by Challenges, the u.s. site is inflexible, seo is mandatory : “we do not allow the owners of establishments to derogate from TripAdvisor, except if their restaurant is closed,” says Bertrand Jelensperger, Responsible of the Restaurants from TripAdvisor, and CEO of The Fork. In regard to the systematic referral to different restaurants, but who pay for its services, is it a coincidence? “The algorithm of the heading ‘Restaurants Similar’ works the same way as that of Amazon, which offers alternative products to its users : “customers who seen this product also viewed these’ “. About fairness, “we maintain a strict separation between our teams of trade and our teams of content”, promises this person, who has yet responsibilities in the two areas.
The controversy will, therefore, be arbitrated by the courts and will be closely observed by thousands of restaurateurs who have learned to deal with the us rating and its commercial subsidiary. “I receive many messages of support from colleagues but they dare not directly confront a giant american fear of being disadvantaged on a site as important “, says Xavier Denamur.
