Japan Investigates Pay-for-Play on Restaurant Review Sites, Shares Fall
- Kakaku.com, Gurunavi shares slump after Japan FTC announcement
- Investigation reportedly focuses on whether ratings are unfair
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Shares of Japanese restaurant review site operators plunged Thursday after a regulator announced that it will investigate their business practices.
Japan’s Fair Trade Commission will examine whether the companies give higher ratings to restaurants that pay annual fees, the Nikkei reported, citing comments from the regulator’s Secretary General Akinori Yamada at a press conference on Wednesday.