[edmundhuber]

I don't want to detract from the message of the article, but:

> For example, an eater might search for udon, but end up ordering soba. In this case, the eater may have been looking for something similar to udon, such as soba and ramen, instead of only being interested in udon. As humans, it might seem obvious; Udon and soba are somewhat similar, Chinese and Japanese are both Asian cuisines.

Aren't udon and soba both Japanese?

[taobility]

The author's point is, Udon is similar with Soba, and Chinese cuisines is similar with Japanese food, compared with Burger and Noodle. But not saying, Udon is Chinese cuisine, and Soba is Japanese cuisine.

[jy1]

Yeah, that's the point!

[xapata]

The author seems to be drawing a parallel between udon and soba, but instead of saying they're both Japanese, says that China and Japan are both in Asia. It's somewhat of a non-sequitur that only makes sense if (1) the author thought that udon is Chinese and soba is Japanese, or (2) the author didn't realize that the second phrase would not be read as a separate example but still in the context of "In this case ..." which set up the udon example.

Edit: Looking at the authors' names -- Ferras Hamad, Isaac Liu and Xian Xing Zhang -- I'm guessing the 2nd is what happened. Somehow I get the sense that Xian Xing Zhang and Isaac Liu know where udon comes from.