TOBY SHAPSHAK: How a TripAdvisor user’s fake restaurant became London’s number one
What started as a prank turned into an extraordinary story of gaming the system, and red faces at TripAdvisor
After writing many TripAdvisor reviews himself, Oobah Butler wondered what it would take for a restaurant to be rated as the website’s number one pick in London. So he took photographs of his rented cottage in Dulwich — including some made-up food shots using pool chemicals and his foot — and made a page for "The Shed at Dulwich". What started as a prank turned into an extraordinary story of gaming the system and a spectacular embarrassment for TripAdvisor. Butler said he asked himself: "In the climate of fakery could one fake the existence of a restaurant?" He began his project in May last year with his Shed at number 18,149: the "bottom of the pile" of London restaurants. He got family and friends to write reviews, all agreeing that the food was homely, you eat outside, and, crucially, it was hard to get a table. After six weeks and 20 reviews his "appointment-only" bistro was at number 1,456. "I’m higher in the rankings than some of my favourite restaurants in London," he laughed...
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