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."

But the court rejected an injunction sought by the restaurant chain to stop the operator from using the algorithm, saying its negative impact on sales may not continue as consumers would choose restaurants by considering the change of the site's algorithm.