Google is going through a lawsuit from a Florida restaurant chain proprietor that accuses the corporate of directing customers to “unauthorized” Google-branded meals ordering webpages, the place it makes use of eating places names “without their approval,” as first reported by Ars Technica.

A copy of the lawsuit alleges Google employs “bait-and-switch” techniques by putting its “Order Online” button on the prime of eating places’ profile panels on the search engine. The massive blue button redirects customers to a food.google.com web page the place they will choose gadgets from a restaurant’s menu after which place an order via a wide range of third-party providers, like Postmates, DoorDash, and UberEats — not via the restaurant itself. These providers take a fee from collaborating eating places, which, for instance, ranges anyplace from 15 to 30 p.c with UberEats.

The lawsuit claims that Google “prominently features” eating places’ names on its ordering pages with the alleged aim of “deliberately confusing consumers into entering and interacting with its websites.” If a buyer locations an order via this web page utilizing a third-party service, the restaurant will get charged a charge, and the lawsuit alleges Google will get “a cut-of-the-action.”

The lawsuit is in search of class-action standing on behalf of different eating places that will have misplaced orders to Google’s button.

Google first rolled out its “Order Online” button in 2019. On Google’s support page, it tells eating places that they will flip the ordering characteristic on or off, however it stays unclear whether or not it’s toggled on by default.

Google spokesperson Ashley Thompson stated in an emailed assertion to The Verge that the lawsuit represents a “mischaracterization” of the product and that the corporate will defend itself “vigorously.”

“Our goal is to connect customers with restaurants they want to order food from and make it easier for them to do it through the ‘Order Online’ button,” Thompson stated. “We provide tools for merchants to indicate whether they support online orders or prefer a specific provider, including their own ordering website. We do not receive any compensation for orders or integrations with this feature.”

In 2019, Grubhub was criticized for getting 1000’s of domains that carefully resembled these of explicit eating places with out the eating places’ involvement. These websites would characteristic a restaurant’s identify, menu, and generally even its brand, together with a web-based type to order via Grubhub. Last 12 months, town of Chicago sued Grubhub and DoorDash for “unfair and deceptive” practices, and faux web sites had been simply one of many lawsuit’s allegations.