The large Canadian city of Montreal was the subject of much attention this week due to its Le Nouveau Duluth restaurant, which topped the list of a total of 3,678 places to eat in the province of Quebec on Tripadvisor. But finding it is not easy.

The reason is simple: the restaurant doesn’t exist, he wrote Guard and several other media.

CBC Canada wrote that the way a fictional restaurant was able to rise to the top of a recommendation service, which is one of the largest in the world, raises questions about the credibility of user-generated review services and the algorithms behind them.

Surprised by the list

The owner of a business that owns a shop on the same block as the restaurant, which supposedly provides customers with a great culinary experience, is confused as to where the restaurant is located.

One of them is shopkeeper Yoo Jeung. For 22 years, he has run his Le Spot St-Denis flower shop in the same building where the restaurant should have been on the corner of Duluth Avenue and St-Denis Street. He said he knows the area well, and tourists often ask him about the various restaurants in the area.

– But Nouveau Duluth? No, he told The Guardian, and added that there were a few things about the entry that surprised him. Among other things, the photos from the restaurant don’t look like they were taken in the same building.

[ (+) Forfatter: – Jeg ville vise at noe viktig gikk tapt da Øst-Tyskland ble utradert ]

human error

Guard highlighting that, according to reviews, the alleged restaurant could offer proximity to the beach, valet parking, private catering, buffets, live music, playgrounds, and so-called drive-through options.

Tripadvisor, for its part, claims that in this case something went wrong in the moderation of the service.

“It was human error that caused fake listings to remain live on the platform longer than they should have,” Tripadvisor said in a statement.

– This listing, including reviews and photos associated with the listing, is now deactivated, the company said.

[ – Det har jeg helt sluttet å kjøpe, prisen er jo doblet. Det gidder jeg ikke ]

[ (+) Ulrikke: – Han ville ikke ha meg i begravelsen. Da ble jeg veldig lei meg ]

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