Tricky Sites

How Are These Websites Tricky?

In February 2019, researchers at Princeton University analyzed ~53k product pages from some of the most popular e-commerce sites online. They discovered widespread use of "dark patterns," website designs that manipulate and deceive shoppers (New York Times article) (academic paper).

This website is an independent follow-on project involving some of the same researchers. We hope this site makes it easier for consumers to find out about the sites revealed by the Dark Patterns team. Here are some of the manipulative designs documented by the Dark Patterns team.

• Activity Notification: Influencing shopper decisions by making the product appear popular with others.
• Confirmshaming: Steering shoppers to certain choices through shame and guilt.
• Countdown Timer: Pressuring shoppers with a decreasing count-down timer.
• Forced Enrollment: Requiring shoppers to agree to something in order to use basic functions of the website.
• Hard to Cancel: Making it easy for shoppers to sign up and obstructing their ability to cancel.
• Hidden Costs: Waiting to reveal extra costs to shoppers until just before they make a purchase.
• Hidden Subscription: Charging a recurring fee after accepting an initial fee or trial period.
• High Demand: Pressuring shoppers by suggesting that a product has high demand.
• Limited Time: Telling shoppers that a deal or discount will expire soon.
• Low-Stock Notification: Pressuring shoppers with claims that the inventory is low.
• Pressured Selling: Pre-selecting or pressuring shoppers to accept the most expensive options.
• Sneak into Basket: Adding extra products into shopping carts without consent or through boxes checked by default.
• Trick Questions: Steering shoppers into certain choices with confusing language.
• Visual Interference: Distracting shoppers away from certain information through flashy color, style, and messages.