Google accused of 'deceptive' online ordering practices by restaurant group - Restaurant Dive

Dive Brief:

• A class action lawsuit has been filed against Google alleging the tech giant infringed on restaurants' intellectual property rights and interfered with their customer relationships by using "deceptive online ordering practices." The suit was filed on behalf of Left Field Holdings, which operates several Lime Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants.
• The complaint alleges that Google used the Lime Fresh name without its permission and "intercepted" more than 1,000 orders from its customers, most of which were pickup orders. The suit also alleges Google directed customers to unauthorized websites that were intentionally designed to include Lime Fresh but were owned and controlled by Google.
• The complaint alleges that Google's unauthorized sites directed customers to branded pages on delivery platforms such as Grubhub and DoorDash. The plaintiffs say they did not authorize or sponsor their pages on the sites of major providers.

Dive Insight:

The suit claims Google began these practices in 2019, using a website to capture customers' attention and sell their orders to third-party delivery companies. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said this resulted in restaurants having to pay service fees to third-party delivery companies while losing direct relationships with customers.

"Google's deceptive webpages divert orders and customers away from the restaurants and into a process that benefits Google, but not the restaurants," said Tim Sperling of Sperling & Slater, a law firm...

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