Trickadvisor?
Source: Ric Matkowski en Unsplash
Garden shed becomes best rated restaurant on TripAdvisor - but it serves up Iceland ready meals
Oobah Butler created the fake "appointment only" restaurant in his garden using photographs of food and decoration made up of shaving foam and bleach
A garden shed became the top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor after a writer tricked the popular review site by submitting fake reviews.Oobah Butler, who writes for Vice, created the fake restaurant in his garden by setting up a website with photographs of food, which were in fact made from shaving foam, bleach and extra texture provided by using his bare foot as a backdrop.
He based his meals on moods in a bid to set it apart from other restaurants - but many of the dishes served on opening night were in fact, Iceland ready meals.
He bought a mobile phone and registered the number as the restaurant's while refusing to give an address as it was "appointment-only", enlisting the help of friends to meet people nearby and guide them to the premises.
The restaurant slowly climbed the rankings on the back of reviews from friends.
Guardian restaurant critic Jay Rayner even tweeted: "At last: a restaurant that recognises food is all about mood.
"Of all the shed-based eating experiences out there this one sounds like the best.
"Or at least second best. (I have my own shed, hence). Personally I'm keen to try 'contemplation'."
Butler writes in his piece: "I realise what it is: the appointments, lack of address and general exclusivity of this place is so alluring that people can't see sense. They're looking at photos of the sole of my foot, drooling. Over the coming months, The Shed's phone rings incessantly."
After his restaurant made it to number one, he held a special event for guests at which he served, for free, heated ready meals from a discount supermarket.
On leaving, one couple asked if their attendance would allow them preferential bookings in future.
Butler concluded: "So there we go: I invited people into a hastily-assembled collection of chairs outside my shed, and they left thinking it really could be the best restaurant in London, just on the basis of a TripAdvisor rating."
TripAdvisor said in a statement: "As there is no incentive for anyone in the real world to create a fake restaurant it is not a problem we experience with our regular community, therefore this 'test' is not a real world example."
How to spot a fake online review - the signs
TripAdvisor, which has 45million reviews of more than 500,000 destinations, is a popular first stop for holidaymakers seeking honest opinions about places to stay.
But, there are now entire industries offering to pay people in exchange for reviews - so how can you tell the difference?
- If the review sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Watch out for "hotel speak" - formal or technical terms or phrases that the average visitor probably wouldn't use. An excessive use of superlatives and adverbs, and an unnecessary amount of exclamation points are the calling cards of many adverts/fake reviews.
- Repetition is an obvious sign, if you spot similar reviews using similar descriptions, phrases - it's probably fabricated.
- Frequency - if you suddenly notice a spike in positive posts around that hotel, restaurant or place of interest, it may be a warning sign that all is not right.
- Who wrote it? If you find a suspicious comment, click on the user and have a scroll through their profile. If there's no more activity, there's probably something wrong.
Comments
It's beyond belief. Mr. Butler created a restaurant in his garden with shaving foam, bleach and his foot. He submitted fake reviews on TripAdvisor and, after he bought a mobile phone and register the number as the restaurant, he got that the restaurant slowly climbed the ranking.
He tricked ordinary people and critic people. This man is a champion. We trust TripAdvisor but TripAdvisor doesn't check submitting reviews therefore it tricks us. I understand why you say Trickadvisor.
TripAdvisor has 45 million reviews of more than 500.000 destinations who seek honest opinions, but after I read this article I wonder how many dishonest opinions are there in its website?
They show the signs to spot a fake online review, but if when we seek a restaurant, we couldn't be sure about this reviews are honest, then we would need other company that did a study to check that opinions are true for us. It's crazy. I prefer don't go out for a meal.
See you.
I hope you had a fun Christmas.
Do you remember the photo of a meal in an Italian restaurant we checked out on Tripadvisor? I wonder if it was a fake.
... he bought a mobile phone and registered the number as the restaurant, he managed to get the restaurant to slowly climbed the ranking.
He tricked ordinary people and critics. ...
TripAdvisor has 45 million reviews of more than 500.000 destinations who seek honest opinions, but after I read this article, I wonder how many dishonest opinions there are on its website?
They show the signs to spot a fake online review, but if when we seek a restaurant, we couldn't be sure about this reviews are honest, then we would need another company that did a study to check that opinions are true for us. It's crazy. I prefer not to go out for a meal.
I think that in the case of this "restaurant", the problem was not Tripadvisor but it was the customers themselves who said that the food was good and that they wanted to go again and again, even when the food was bad (prepared meals).
It is true that Tripadvisor has many people who comment, but, in my opinion, just a few of these profiles are false. I think that it's easy to detect fake profiles due to them having few reviews.
When we use Tripadvisor, I think that we have to look at the following aspects:
1. The number of reviews that the hotel/restaurant has, since the more opinions there are, the more reliable they will be.
2. The general opinion, since if many people say that it is excellent, it will surely be a good place (perhaps not excellent, but at least good).
3. The number of opinions from other places that have written the people who have commented this place.
Considering these aspects, I think Tripadvisor can be a good place to seek advice.
Regards,
Nuria Martín Sánchez
I use Tripadvisor to check out opinions of restaurants or to get ideas for things to do when visiting somewhere on holiday.
However, I am not convinced of its reliability.
Take the case of the Italian restaurant that I refer to in my reply to José. I had been there on a few occasions and I suggested going there for a night out with some ex-students. José and I looked it up on tripadvisor and were horrified to discover a photo of a maggot in the food in the latest review. Needless to say, José refused to go there. I don't know whether they really had found a maggot in their meal but I am certain that it would put many people off going there.
2. The general opinion; if many people say that it is excellent, it will surely be a good place (perhaps not excellent, but at least good).
3. The number of opinions from other places that have written the people who have commented on this place.
Considering these aspects, I think Tripadvisor can be a good place to seek advice.
See you tomorrow!