dark pattern

This is one of various tricks used in websites and apps to get unsuspecting users to spend more than they intended to or sign up for things they didn’t want.  Government agencies and the legal community prefer to call these deceptive patterns, but in general use dark patterns has a more sinister ring to it.  Echoes of the dark web.

A dark pattern can be deliberately obfuscatory, setting out information in confusing ways and making it impossible to compare the product offered with others of a similar kind.  Or the site can be manipulative, working on the user to feel shame in not doing what they are being pressured into doing or anxiety that there is limited time to do what they want.  Or it can disguise an advertisement as part of the text of the site.  Or it can go so far as to produce fake reviews and testimonials.  These are some of the many deceptive strategies employed.