No matter how impeccable service a restaurant provides, chances are it will still receive negative online reviews from time to time. Recently, some top-rated restaurants in San Francisco and New York, including those with Michelin stars, began receiving a blitz of one-star ratings on Google with no description or photos ( Morales, 2022 ). The owners believed those leaving one-star ratings had never dined in their establishments. Moreover, soon after the reviews, they all received emails from the reviewers who claimed the responsibility. What did the reviewers want by leaving one-star Google ratings? The reviewers asked the restaurants to pay them a $75 Google Play gift card before they would remove the ratings. If they did not receive the gift card, they would add more bad ratings to the business. How did the restaurants respond to those negative reviews? One owner tweeted about her experience to Google as a complaint. Google removed the one-star ratings for her. Anoth
Hospitality/Tourism Management | Service Marketing | Information Technology