Restaurant tech supplier Popmenu is suing rival Owner.com over an online tool that assesses the strength of restaurant websites.
The lawsuit, filed last month in California Superior Court, alleges that Owner’s Restaurant Website Grader gives inaccurate and misleading results that have hurt Popmenu’s business.
Popmenu and Owner are direct competitors. They offer things like websites, online ordering and marketing software for independent restaurants.
Popmenu alleged that Owner has a pattern of using misinformation to win business. According to the lawsuit, Owner’s website featured a comparison between Owner and Popmenu that included false statements, such as that Popmenu pressures restaurants into long-term contracts and has poor customer reviews.
After Popmenu raised concerns about the inaccuracies as well as the website grader, Owner removed the statements about Popmenu from its website.
But it is still operating the website grader. Visitors to the site can enter the location of a restaurant. It will then grade the restaurant’s online presence based on a number of factors, such as photos, Google reviews and the website itself.
Popmenu argued that the grades are misleading because the tool can trigger a website’s security protocols, which prevents a complete scan of the website and results in a lower grade.
The company said the tool has caused “significant harm” to its business and reputation because many of the websites being graded were built by Popmenu.
“The Grader’s artificially low grades mislead prospective customers into believing that Popmenu’s services are technically deficient,” the lawsuit says.
The company noted that its websites rank high on Google and score well on other, neutral website graders.
A graphic comparing Owner's website grader (left) to other similar programs. | Image courtesy of Popmenu
Owner strongly denied Popmenu’s claims. “In its opinion, the allegations are coming from an unhappy competitor,” its press team said in a statement.
Popmenu accused Owner of false advertising, unfair competition and trade libel, and has asked the court to award damages and to block Owner from the alleged illegal tactics.
The lawsuit highlights the increasingly competitive nature of restaurant technology, where a multitude of companies with similar products are fighting for the same business.
“More than ever before, restaurants are evaluating tech because they need it to compete and survive,” Popmenu said in a statement. “Popmenu is sounding the alarm not only because this tool misstates the capabilities of Popmenu services, but because it is misleading to operators who rely on objective information to make informed purchasing decisions for their business.”
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