Can't it be a simple case of being the first so widely distributed ? A quick skimming on Wikipedia shows that of the main guides showed today [1], only one othe

Can't it be a simple case of being the first so widely distributed ? A quick skimming on Wikipedia shows that of the main guides showed today [1], only one other guide started at the end of the of the 19th century [2]. So probably a good example of the "Land Grab" strategy (from Spolsky, [3]), being the first to grow fast in a new(ish) market. Then they were the reference and that's a easier position to maintain than to grab. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_rating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant_rating [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cuisini%C3%A8re_Cordon_Bleu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cuisini%C3%A8re_Cordon_Bleu [3]: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html