Fake Recommendations Or Real Advice

With a trip to Paris booked in part (we have a hotel), at some point we have to deal with restaurants.

Obviously, a traveler has to eat and who wouldn't want to get the most for their euro?

And considering the fact that we don't have an unlimited stash of euro to draw on, we're especially keen on value for price.

Did you look at TripAdvisor, friends asked when we mentioned our quandary. Crowd-sourced reviews to be had in plenty, comments and star-ratings and where better to find what's best.

Except that the reviews might be faked and the comments posted by the establishment to boost sales. Or a rival might have rigged the stars to hurt his competition and you'd be missing something grand.

Businesses in England have launched a counter-attack, making a complaint with the Advertising Standards Agency.

How can anyone trust a review if the reviewer isn't first vetted? TripAdvisor claims they possess reviews you can trust, but that's false (and illegal) advertising because it isn't quite true.

There's a possibility that TripAdvisor might be taken to court in the U.S. on the same grounds, that they're promising something they can't possibly deliver, unless they somehow vet each and every reviewer who posts a comment on the site. Not likely to happen, given the vast number of users who've put in their opinion.

So can I trust a TripAdvisor recommendation for a restaurant or not? Will I be falling for a scheme by an overpriced, untalented chef to rope in the gullible? Or will I really be steered to some undiscovered gem in a quiet corner of the Marais district?

No surprise that the Brits liked to haul around a supply of digestive biscuits on their Grand Tours. They had no idea where to find a decent meal, either.