It seems that the middle-man adds value. But, as the middle-man becomes the portal, it can control the customer. With this control, it can control prices. And as such, the restaurant-owner pays, and loses margins.

It is hugely unfair, as the restaurant-owners get caught in a winner-takes-all situation for the middle-men, and are forced into a race-to-the-bottom.

I think it serves well as a prototypical example of what's wrong with the digital economy. This is something everybody should be thinking about. Some people are already reporting about it though: [1]. Quoting:

> Our focus here is the “uberisation” of the economy by which we mean the destructuration of the value chain by new intermediaries which, through the use of digital technologies (mainly apps, smartphones and online payment systems), capture part of the value at the detriment of traditional operators. Not only taxi companies, hotels, restaurants, retailers, but also insurers, banks, travelling services (beyond the reservation services) , operators in the agri-food chain, etc. are likely to be challenged, with many more sectors thereafter.

[1] http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/image/docum...