A trend on Reddit that sees Londoners giving false restaurant recommendations in order to keep their favorites clear of tourists and social media influencers highlights the inherent flaws of Google Search’s reliance on Reddit and Google’s AI Overview.
Apparently, some London residents are getting fed up with social media influencers whose reviews make long lines of tourists at their favorite restaurants, sometimes just for the likes. Christian Calgie, a reporter for London-based news publication Daily Express, pointed out this trend on X yesterday, noting the boom of Redditors referring people to Angus Steakhouse, a chain restaurant, to combat it.
Again, at this point the Angus Steakhouse hype doesn’t appear to have made it into AI Overview. But it is appearing in Search results. And while this is far from being a dangerous attempt to manipulate search results or AI algorithms, it does highlight the pitfalls of Google results becoming dependent on content generated by users who could very easily have intentions other than providing helpful information. This is also far from the first time that online users, including on platforms outside of Reddit, have publicly declared plans to make inaccurate or misleading posts in an effort to thwart AI scrapers.
Unless I misread, the point isn’t leaving bad reviews, it’s making fake good reviews for a chain restaurant.
The way it’s being done is intended to stymie outsiders from crowding out locals.
Now, I agree that it is going to make competition harder for the non-chain restaurants the fake reviews are supposed to be isolating from tourist and traveller customers. It’s still a shitty move that hurts the local businesses. But it isn’t the same thing as actively trying to tank them. It’s a quibble about wording though, not a disagreement with your actual point.
If someone sees an Angus steakhouse and actually goes in and buys food they must be blind. It’s the most obvious looking tourist trap of a chain you can imagine.
It perches itself on corners in busy parts of London next to major tube stations and preys on the dimmest and laziest tourists. It’s genuinely worrying so many people fall for it and go in, reviews or not.
Recommending it is more of a joke than a serious attempt to convince anyone it’s good.