A Japanese court on Thursday ordered the operator of Tabelog, a popular restaurant review website, to pay about ¥38.4 million ($286,000) in damages to a Korean barbecue chain, judging that its rating algorithm is unfairly designed for chain outlets.
The Tokyo District Court found that the site operator Kakaku.com violated the antimonopoly law, saying its algorithm, which uniformly lowered scores of chain restaurants, is considered an “abuse of dominant bargaining position.”
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