As a restaurant owner, I welcome honest feedback. It helps us grow, keeps us accountable, and drives business. But over the past few years, online reviews have shifted from being helpful to increasingly hazardous. What once empowered consumers and businesses alike is now riddled with credibility issues, flawed filtering systems, and an absence of accountability on the platforms that host them.
Google’s AI Nonsense
Google, for instance, recently implemented AI-driven moderation of reviews. In theory, this should help weed out fake or malicious content. But in practice, the algorithm is blunt. We’ve had several legitimate, positive reviews from real guests disappear without explanation. These weren’t bots or spam—they were detailed, genuine accounts from happy diners. Yet there’s no recourse. No appeal. No person to talk to. Once the system flags a review, it vanishes into the void.
TripAdvisor’s Freefall
Once the go-to platform for travelers and diners, the platform always had and still has major flaws. The problem isn’t just fake reviews, it’s the lack of any interest in addressing them. For years, restaurant owners pleaded with them to investigate suspicious reviews or restore wrongly removed ones, only to be met with canned responses (if at all), or stone cold silence. It’s no surprise the platform’s popularity is in free fall. When businesses are treated as adversaries rather than partners, trust erodes fast.
The Litigation Response
In Germany, the situation has flipped in the opposite direction. Restaurateurs there have started using the country’s notoriously complex legal system to demand the removal of negative reviews. Send a legal notice to Google, and the company removes the review, no questions asked. That might sound like a win for business owners, but it’s just another flawed extreme.
And it’s not just a Germany problem. In Italy, businesses routinely sue for defamation over TripAdvisor reviews. Some courts have sided with them, leading to jail time for fake reviewers in some cases. In Thailand, strict defamation laws mean even a negative but truthful review can bring legal threats.
Reviewers themselves now have no way to contest such takedowns. Transparency is lost, and the public ends up with a sanitized picture rather than the full truth. So now guests self-censor, and platforms overreact to avoid litigation.
Three Suggestions
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Transparent Moderation Logs: Platforms should provide businesses and reviewers with a clear log of why a review was removed or rejected. If an AI flagged it, say why. If a human did, provide evidence. No more silent deletions.
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Verified User Programs: Require at least a shred of proof-of-purchase or visit confirmation for reviews to be published. Some platforms have flirted with this idea but never implemented it meaningfully. A verified review is more credible for everyone.
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Balanced Appeal Systems: Both reviewers and businesses should be able to challenge decisions, whether it’s removal or publication. A basic arbitration step (even automated) would be fairer than the current black box approach.
The review ecosystem that is broken from both ends. Businesses are frustrated, guests feel powerless, and platforms offer little clarity. We need to move toward a review culture that rewards honesty, not manipulation, whether algorithmic or legal. Until platforms invest in real accountability, we’ll continue living in a world where the loudest voices, not the truest ones, shape reputations.
Image Credit: https://www.churrascophuket.com/
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Churrasco Phuket Steakhouse serves affordable Wagyu and Black Angus steaks and burgers. We are open daily from 12noon to 11pm at Jungceylon Shopping Center in Patong / Phuket.
We are family-friendly and offer free parking and Wi-Fi for guests. See our menus, reserve your table, find our location, and check all guest reviews here:
https://ChurrascoPhuket.com/
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