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A new FTC investigation reveals unexpected manipulative tricks.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), together with two international consumer protection networks ICPEN and GPEN, published the results of a study on the use of "dark patterns" — manipulative designs that can threaten users privacy or encourage them to take undesirable actions. The analysis covered 642 websites and apps with subscriptions, and found that most of them (almost 76%) use at least one dark pattern, and almost 67% use more than one.
Dark patterns are design techniques that covertly encourage users to take certain actions or compromise their privacy. These methods are particularly popular among sites and apps with subscriptions and have long been the focus of the FTC's attention. For example, in 2019, the FTC filed a lawsuit against the Match dating app for fraudulent practices, including the difficulty of canceling a subscription.
A new FTC report takes a detailed look at various types of dark patterns, such as information concealment, obstruction, pushiness, compulsion to act, social proof, and others.
Information hiding turned out to be one of the most common types of dark patterns. In 81% of the cases reviewed, websites and apps automatically renewed subscriptions without disabling auto-renewal. In 70% of cases, the services did not provide information on how to cancel your subscription, and 67% did not specify the date before which you need to cancel your subscription in order to avoid a new payment.
Obstacles are also a common technique that makes it difficult for a user to take actions such as canceling a subscription or bypassing the free trial period. Often, the "close" button on such offers is gray and hidden from view.
Intrusiveness involves repeated requests to perform an action desired by the manipulative company. For example, the TikTok app regularly asks users to access their contacts, even after they are denied access.
Forcing an action means that the user must perform a specific action in order to access the functionality, for example, enter payment details to participate in a free trial period. This requirement was found in 66.4% of the sites and applications studied.
Such a technique as "social proof" uses the influence of the crowd to push the user to buy, showing metrics of other users' activity. This is especially popular in e-commerce, where data is displayed about how many people view an item or add it to the cart.
The study found that 21.5% of websites and apps used notifications and other forms of social proof to attract users to subscribe.
Sites can also often create a false sense of urgency to encourage users to make purchases. This is often seen on platforms such as Amazon, where users are periodically notified when there is a small amount of stock item that the user has added to the cart.
Interface intervention involves techniques that allow the design of a website or app to persuade the user to make a business-friendly decision. For example, automatic selection of more expensive products or subscriptions, as well as the use of a "false hierarchy" to visually highlight business-friendly options.
The FTC study was conducted from January 29 to February 2, 2024, as part of the annual review of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) and covered 642 sites and apps with subscriptions.
By the way, this is not the first time that the FTC is considering the use of dark patterns. In 2022, the agency published a report that looked at dark patterns in various industries, including e-commerce and apps for children.
Source
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), together with two international consumer protection networks ICPEN and GPEN, published the results of a study on the use of "dark patterns" — manipulative designs that can threaten users privacy or encourage them to take undesirable actions. The analysis covered 642 websites and apps with subscriptions, and found that most of them (almost 76%) use at least one dark pattern, and almost 67% use more than one.
Dark patterns are design techniques that covertly encourage users to take certain actions or compromise their privacy. These methods are particularly popular among sites and apps with subscriptions and have long been the focus of the FTC's attention. For example, in 2019, the FTC filed a lawsuit against the Match dating app for fraudulent practices, including the difficulty of canceling a subscription.
A new FTC report takes a detailed look at various types of dark patterns, such as information concealment, obstruction, pushiness, compulsion to act, social proof, and others.
Information hiding turned out to be one of the most common types of dark patterns. In 81% of the cases reviewed, websites and apps automatically renewed subscriptions without disabling auto-renewal. In 70% of cases, the services did not provide information on how to cancel your subscription, and 67% did not specify the date before which you need to cancel your subscription in order to avoid a new payment.
Obstacles are also a common technique that makes it difficult for a user to take actions such as canceling a subscription or bypassing the free trial period. Often, the "close" button on such offers is gray and hidden from view.
Intrusiveness involves repeated requests to perform an action desired by the manipulative company. For example, the TikTok app regularly asks users to access their contacts, even after they are denied access.
Forcing an action means that the user must perform a specific action in order to access the functionality, for example, enter payment details to participate in a free trial period. This requirement was found in 66.4% of the sites and applications studied.
Such a technique as "social proof" uses the influence of the crowd to push the user to buy, showing metrics of other users' activity. This is especially popular in e-commerce, where data is displayed about how many people view an item or add it to the cart.
The study found that 21.5% of websites and apps used notifications and other forms of social proof to attract users to subscribe.
Sites can also often create a false sense of urgency to encourage users to make purchases. This is often seen on platforms such as Amazon, where users are periodically notified when there is a small amount of stock item that the user has added to the cart.
Interface intervention involves techniques that allow the design of a website or app to persuade the user to make a business-friendly decision. For example, automatic selection of more expensive products or subscriptions, as well as the use of a "false hierarchy" to visually highlight business-friendly options.
The FTC study was conducted from January 29 to February 2, 2024, as part of the annual review of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) and covered 642 sites and apps with subscriptions.
By the way, this is not the first time that the FTC is considering the use of dark patterns. In 2022, the agency published a report that looked at dark patterns in various industries, including e-commerce and apps for children.
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