{"id":8308,"date":"2021-10-12T11:15:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T11:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1369579"},"modified":"2021-10-12T11:15:02","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T11:15:02","slug":"dark-web-design-and-manipulation-how-its-getting-you-to-click","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=8308","title":{"rendered":"Dark web design and manipulation: how it\u2019s getting you to click"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ico.org.uk\/for-organisations\/guide-to-pecr\/cookies-and-similar-technologies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">cookie banner<\/a>\u201d, and it\u2019s there to secure your consent, as per <a href=\"https:\/\/gdpr.eu\/cookies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">online privacy laws<\/a>, for websites to retain information about you between browsing sessions.<\/p>\n<p>The cookie banner purports to offer you a choice: consent to only the essential cookies that help maintain your browsing functionality, or accept them all \u2013 including cookies that track your browsing history to sell on to targeted advertising firms. Because those additional cookies <a href=\"https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2020-01-cookies-ad-revenue-online-publishers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">generate extra revenue<\/a> for the websites we visit, cookie banners are often designed to trick you into clicking \u201caccept all\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The UK\u2019s information commissioner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-58464747\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">recently urged<\/a> G7 countries to address this problem, highlighting how fatigued web users are agreeing to share more personal data than they\u2019d like. But in truth, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/those-pop-up-i-agree-boxes-arent-just-annoying-theyre-potentially-dangerous-106898\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">manipulative cookie banners<\/a> are just one example of what\u2019s called \u201cdark design\u201d \u2013 the practice of creating user interfaces that are intentionally designed to trick or deceive the user.<\/p>\n<p>Dark design has proven to be an incredibly effective way of encouraging web users to part with their time, money, and privacy. This in turn has established \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkpatterns.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">dark patterns<\/a>\u201d, or sets of practices designers know they can use to manipulate web users. They\u2019re difficult to spot, but they\u2019re increasingly prevalent in the websites and apps we use every day, creating products that are manipulative by design, much like the persistent, ever-present pop-ups we\u2019re forced to close when we visit a new website.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5yj1GH111Xc\" height=\"240\" width=\"320\" allowfullscreen frameborder=\"0\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--resp-video-container--><\/p>\n<p>Cookie banners remain the most obvious form of dark design. You\u2019ll notice how the \u201caccept all\u201d button is large and cheerfully highlighted, attracting your cursor within a split second of your arrival on a website. Meanwhile, the dowdy, less prominent \u201cconfirm choices\u201d or \u201cmanage settings\u201d buttons \u2013 the ones through which we can protect our privacy \u2013 scare us away with more time-consuming clicks.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll know from experience which one you tend to click. Or you can try the <a href=\"https:\/\/cookieconsentspeed.run\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Cookie Consent Speed-Run<\/a>, an online game that exposes how difficult it is to click the right button in the face of dark design. E-commerce websites also <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/1907.07032.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">frequently use<\/a> dark patterns. Say you\u2019ve found a competitively priced product you\u2019d like to buy. You dutifully create an account, select your product specifications, input delivery details, click through to the payment page \u2013 and discover the final cost, including delivery, is mysteriously higher than you\u2019d originally thought. These \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkpatterns.org\/types-of-dark-pattern\/hidden-costs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">hidden costs<\/a>\u201d aren\u2019t accidental: the designer is hoping you\u2019ll just hit \u201corder\u201d rather than spending even more time repeating the same process on another website.<\/p>\n<p>Other elements of dark design are less obvious. Free services such as Facebook and YouTube monetize your attention by placing advertisements in front of you as you scroll, browse or watch. In this \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oreilly.com\/library\/view\/the-attention-economy\/9781422160800\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">attention economy<\/a>\u201d, the more you scroll or watch, the more money the companies make. So these platforms are intentionally optimized to <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/remember-youre-being-manipulated-on-social-media-4-essential-reads-106742\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">command and retain your attention<\/a>, even if you\u2019d rather close the app and get on with your day. For example, the expertly crafted algorithm behind YouTube\u2019s \u201cUp Next\u201d video suggestions can keep us <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/dont-just-blame-youtubes-algorithms-for-radicalisation-humans-also-play-a-part-125494\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">watching for hours<\/a> if we let them.<\/p>\n<h2>App design<\/h2>\n<p>Manipulating users for commercial gain isn\u2019t just used on websites. Currently, more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.appbrain.com\/stats\/free-and-paid-android-applications\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">95% of Android apps<\/a> on the Google Play store are free to download and use. Creating these apps is an expensive business, requiring teams of designers, developers, artists, and testers. But designers know that they\u2019ll recoup this investment once we\u2019re hooked on their \u201cfree\u201d apps \u2013 and they do it using dark design.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3311927.3323136\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">recent research<\/a> analyzing free app-based games that are popular with today\u2019s teenagers, my colleague and I identified dozens of examples of dark design. Users are forced to watch adverts and frequently encounter disguised adverts that look like part of the game. They\u2019re prompted to share posts on social media and, as their friends join the game, are prompted to make in-app purchases to differentiate their character from those of their peers.<\/p>\n<p>Some of this psychological manipulation seems inappropriate for younger users. Teenage girls\u2019 susceptibility to peer influence is exploited to encourage them to buy clothes for in-game avatars. Some games promote unhealthy body imagery while others actively demonstrate and <a href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3311927.3323136\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">encourage bullying<\/a> through indirect aggression between characters.<\/p>\n<p>There are mechanisms to protect young users from psychological manipulation, such as age rating systems, <a href=\"https:\/\/ico.org.uk\/about-the-ico\/news-and-events\/news-and-blogs\/2020\/01\/ico-publishes-code-of-practice-to-protect-children-s-privacy-online\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">codes of practice<\/a>, and guidance that specifically prohibits the use of dark design. But these rely on developers understanding and interpreting this guidance correctly and, in the case of the <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/googleplay\/android-developer\/topic\/9858052?hl=en-GB#zippy=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google Play Store<\/a>, developers <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/googleplay\/android-developer\/answer\/9898843?hl=en-GB&amp;ref_topic=9877064\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">vet their own work<\/a> and it\u2019s up to users to report any issues. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-3-030-85610-6_40\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">My research<\/a> indicates that these measures are not yet proving entirely effective.<\/p>\n<h2>Shedding light<\/h2>\n<p>The problem with dark design is that it\u2019s difficult to spot. And dark patterns, which are established in every developer\u2019s toolbox, spread fast. They\u2019re hard for designers to resist when free apps and websites are competing for our attention, judged on metrics like \u201ctime on page\u201d and the \u201cuser conversion rate\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>So while cookie banners are annoying and often dishonest, we need to consider the broader implications of an online ecosystem that is increasingly manipulative by design. Dark design is used to influence our decisions about our time, our money, our personal data and our consent. But a critical understanding of how dark patterns work, and what they\u2019re hoping to achieve, can help us detect and overcome their trickery.<\/p>\n<p><em>Google had not replied to a request for comment on this story by the time it was published<\/em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/168347\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/168347\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/daniel-fitton-706164\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Fitton<\/a>, Reader in User Experience Design, <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-central-lancashire-1272\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">University of Central Lancashire<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/the-rise-of-dark-web-design-how-sites-manipulate-you-into-clicking-168347\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/dark-web-design-manipulation-click-syndication\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u201ccookie banner\u201d, and it\u2019s there to secure your&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}