Are there images and reviews of restaurants and cafes, or just listings?
If the guidebook’s intent is to list every eatery in town, they’re not offering guidance. They’re offering a phone book. 5. If there are reviews, do they use the words, “scrumptious,” “delectable” or “succulent” a lot? A word like “scrumptious” is rarely used by a professional reviewer because it’s an empty word. It means delicious. But what does “delicious” really mean? It’s vague. The phrase, “The pancakes at Joe’s are scrumptious” has nothing on “Cookie Joe serves up flapjacks the way his Grandpappy Joe did: thick, airy and stacked up high on the plate.” The second phrase tells you more about those pancakes than a simple, soulless synonym for “delicious” would. Along the same lines, a shill is never going to have a bad word to say about a restaurant. It’s a sign of quality if the reviews give some credit to the bad along with the good. *** In sum, determining what’s advertorial content is tricky. It’s meant to be tricky. They want your money. If you’re really interested in eating we
