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Posted by justincormack 12/9/2025

How Google Maps allocates survival across London's restaurants(laurenleek.substack.com)
400 points | 211 commentspage 3
tylervigen 12/11/2025|
> Google Maps Is Not a Directory. It’s a Market Maker.

I understand the author's meaning, but this isn't what the term "market maker" means. To "make a market" is to stand ready to buy and sell, usually a security, in order to create liquidity in a market. Usually this resolves the issue of timing, because it is unlikely that someone wants to buy at the exact moment someone else wants to sell.

So to "make a market" in London restaurants, Google could buy food during the day and sell it at night when the shops are closed but people are hungry. (This would be silly.)

Perhaps a more precise term is "algorithmic gatekeeper."

Croftengea 12/11/2025|
However, market makers have some leverage on the market they operate in, that's what the author probably meant.
0_____0 12/10/2025||
I have gotten so sick of Google Maps that I've done the unthinkable, and have started walking around the city trying establishments at random.

It has yielded quite good results basically immediately. People (myself included) have gotten too used to living In The Box. Putting aside the time to just go for a walk around and pop into random shops and pubs has been wonderful.

monerozcash 12/10/2025||
At least in central London, the "underrated gems" feature does not seem to be very good at finding underrated gems.

That might just be a feature of the area though.

DeathArrow 12/11/2025||
>Because once you start looking at London’s restaurant scene through data, you stop seeing all those cute independents and hot new openings. You start seeing an algorithmic market - one where visibility compounds, demand snowballs, and who gets to survive is increasingly decided by code.

Seems a bit weird. That would mean most people in London would chose the restaurant based on Google maps reviews.

willtemperley 12/11/2025||
I don’t think the effect Instagram and TikTok has on this attention market can be ignored. Living in a big Asian city I will check those first.
chatmasta 12/12/2025||
This reminds me of a post earlier this year, “Looksmapping” [0], where the author ranked restaurants by the attractiveness of the reviewers according to their profile photos.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44461015

DeathArrow 12/11/2025||
So if you had an online business, you had to do SEO and optimize for search engines. Now, if you have a brick and mortar business you still have to keep the algorithms happy? Sounds like life becomes harder for some business owners.
komali2 12/11/2025|
We had a bizarre time as a brick and mortar being even allowed to be on Google Maps. We had to take multiple pictures and videos of outside of our business with our sign, and then schedule a call with someone not in our country (or didn't speak mandarin anyway), then show them in a video call our outside of the restaurant, us locking and unlocking the door of our restaurant, us opening our cash drawer, then showing receipts, then our back storage room. It was super uncanny.
thimkerbell 12/11/2025||
It's a little funny that no one is a human face of (interface to) Google Maps, or any platform with longevity these days. Talk to the faceless pretend person if you have a problem, maybe you'll feel better.
thimkerbell 12/11/2025|
(they don't fix things anymore, do they?)
whywhywhywhy 12/11/2025||
Google Maps is up for the dethroning to the first competitor that has the same information and shows it all at the closest zoom level.
class3shock 12/11/2025|
Can anyone recommend an alternative to GMaps for searching for restaurants, services, or general "discovery" near a location?
kccqzy 12/11/2025|
Yelp is the classic. The old Foursquare was also good for discovering where people check in, which is basically a proxy for discovery.
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