Restaurants pay more for higher ranking, watchdog warns of limited consumer choice

Photo: Depositphotos.com
Photo: Depositphotos.com

More restaurants are paying extra to appear higher up on the list of meal delivery service Just Eat Takeway’s food ordering app, the company’s annual report shows.

Some €157m of last year’s sales of €2.4bn were down to additional sources of revenue, and ‘increased demand for restaurant promoted placements’ accounted for a large part of this, the company said.

‘People who use the app don’t usually scroll down very far down the list,’ the owner of Bistro Manzo in Zaandam told broadcaster NOS. ‘If you are lower down than fifth place people don’t see you.’ The restaurant pays between one and three euros extra for every meal ordered but has seen its profit margins plunge accordingly.

Consumer and market watchdog ACM warned earlier this month that paid ranking can limit consumer choice and up prices.  It must also be clear to consumers that restaurants have paid to be in the top spot, it said. At the moment restaurants that pay are only labelled ‘sponsored’.

The ACM is also looking at other sites which promote paid ranking, such as Bol.com. Booking.com and Beslist.nl.

Just Eat Takeway claims the ranking reflects price and quality among other things but, the ACM said, competition on these elements takes a backseat if restaurants pay for a higher place.

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