Source: Arstechnica
Google is reportedly being sued by a restaurant group from Florida accusing it for setting up unauthorised pages. These pages aimed to catch food orders instead of directing them to the main site of the restaurant. Using tactics of “bait-and-switch,” Google tricked customers to place orders of pickup or takeout through webpages. According to the lawsuit, these were “new, unauthorised, and deceptively branded webpages.”
The suit was filed on behalf of a restaurant company called Left Field Holdings that runs Lime fresh Mexican Grill franchises. On those pages, customers are pushed by means of large buttons to place orders. These orders refer to food delivery orders with companies such as Seamless, DoorDash and GrubHub.
The lawsuit specifies that the company never bothered to take permission from these restaurants to sell their products on the site. Google deliberately designed its websites to be visible to the customers to be offered, sponsored and approved by the restaurant. This tactic is adopted by the company to “increase orders and clicks.” Google gave in a statement to concerned reporters where they disputed the “mischaracterisations” of their product.
“Our goal is to connect customers with restaurants they want to order food from and make it easier for them to do it through the ‘Order Online’ button.”
The “order online” option is evidently is a result of Google taking over the site. “The Ordering App” site was initially marketed aiming for restaurants. The app is essentially a platform meant for online orders and is powered by the tech giant. There still isn’t clear information on the acquisition but the lawsuit’s accusation is established. Google allegedly decided to market the app to food delivery firms and not restaurants.
The ‘order online’ works in a way that it redirects users to a page that mostly consists of links to delivery platforms, along with their logos. Google provides an interface for getting together an order with prices and food descriptions. Companies that have fulfilled the ‘Order Online’ setup with Google can send users to their own platforms. On the other hand, many restaurants run by third parties contain a link without the name of the restaurant. Restaurants without the setup have had Google make a page for them anyway.
Essentially, the ‘order online’ option of Google leads to a digital storefront that is not authorised. The customer assumes that they are ordering from the restaurant itself whereas it is totally controlled by Google. The tech giant showcases the trade name of the concerned restaurant deliberately to give users a wrong impression.
