Dark patterns, also known as deceptive design or deceptive patterns, are essentially tricks. Websites and apps use dark patterns to manipulate users into making decisions they wouldn’t have otherwise ...

We have all encountered them, in both our personal and professional lives. Think about the times you felt tricked or frustrated by a membership or subscription that had a seamless signup process but ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The internet is a confusing place and some of that is on purpose ...

The vast majority of websites you visit now greet you with a pop-up. This annoying impediment to your seamless web browsing is called the “cookie banner,” and it’s there to secure your consent, as per ...

If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to cancel an online subscription, or to deactivate an account on a website, you may have fallen prey to ‘dark patterns’. The Advertising Standards Authority ...

Do you ever find yourself wasting time trying to close a pushy pop-up? Or discover that you’re subscribed to something you don’t remember signing up for? These things happen to all of us when website ...

Maybe you put a gadget in your online shopping cart and receive a push notification on your phone, urging you to check out before the item goes out-of-stock. Or maybe there's a huge banner on your ...

Turns out, there is a dark art of web design. Inventory trackers, countdown clocks and fake reviews are rampant on e-commerce sites, and all are used to influence how consumers buy. But their contents ...

When I visit my aging mother in the Midwest, I watch as she sits at her computer endlessly scrolling on Facebook. Like many of us, her use of social media has gone far past simple utility (“I need it ...

Today in Seattle, the U.S. government and Amazon are making their opening arguments in a case that could change how companies sell you stuff online. The Federal Trade Commission claims that Amazon ...

At the end of 2025, millions of Americans started receiving small payments, usually under $51, with the note “Amazon FTC ...