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.
So maybe save some of that anger for the giant corporations that pay beaucoup bucks to float their shitty ghost kitchens to the top of search results, using the same gamesmanship. The money they spend has far more influence than individuals do.
And with all due respect if “success” in being a restaurateur is mostly catering to influencers who care more about how your food looks than tastes and are often wasteful and don’t even eat any of it, all while overworking the restaurant staff to make it happen… Fuck success.
Makes you wonder if a “Take a selfie with our prop food” menu item that was £2-3 would be a good idea. Deal with influencer crap quickly, still make a bit of money off it, and keep the actual customers who want to eat your food happy.