Dark Patterns Database

Hidden Cancellation Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Hidden cancellation is a dark pattern where services make it easy to subscribe but deliberately hide or complicate the cancellation process — the classic 'roach motel.'

Forced Continuity Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Forced continuity is a dark pattern where free trials automatically convert to paid subscriptions without clear notification — users are charged unless they remember to cancel.

Confirm Shaming Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Confirm shaming is a dark pattern where declining an offer uses guilt-inducing language — 'No thanks, I don't want to save money' — to pressure users into accepting.

Sneak Into Basket Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Sneak into basket is a dark pattern where products or services are automatically added to a customer's shopping cart without their explicit consent.

Misdirection Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Misdirection is a dark pattern where the design intentionally draws attention away from important information or choices — usually to get you to agree to something you don't want.

Disguised Ads Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Disguised ads are advertisements that are designed to look like organic content — making users click on ads thinking they are genuine articles, search results, or UI elements.

Trick Questions Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Trick questions are a dark pattern where wording is deliberately confusing or double-negative — tricking users into agreeing to something they would decline if phrased clearly.

Privacy Zuckering Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Privacy Zuckering (named after Mark Zuckerberg) is a dark pattern that tricks users into sharing more personal data than they intend — through confusing privacy settings or deceptive defaults.

Forced Action Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Forced action is a dark pattern where users must do something unrelated to complete their primary goal — like creating an account to view a product or accepting notifications to read an article.

Preselection Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Preselection is a dark pattern where the most profitable option for the company is pre-checked or default-selected — relying on user inertia to avoid changing it.

Fake Scarcity Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Fake scarcity is a dark pattern that falsely claims limited availability — 'Only 2 left in stock!' or '57 people are viewing this' — to create artificial urgency and pressure purchases.

Fake Social Proof Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Fake social proof is a dark pattern where companies fabricate social validation — fake reviews, inflated ratings, or fabricated 'most popular' badges — to manipulate buying decisions.

Bait and Switch Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Bait and switch is a dark pattern where users are shown one option or price but delivered something different — often a more expensive or lower quality alternative.

Hidden Costs Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Hidden costs is a dark pattern where extra fees, taxes, or charges are only revealed at the final step of checkout — after the user has invested time in the purchase process.

Price Comparison Prevention Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Price comparison prevention is a dark pattern where retailers make it intentionally hard to compare prices between products or plans — using inconsistent units, unlisted prices, or hidden tiers.

Nagging Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Nagging is a dark pattern where repeated, persistent requests wear down a user's resistance — using notification fatigue to eventually get a 'yes' to something the user has already declined.

Friend Spam Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Friend spam is a dark pattern where a service asks for your contacts or social graph access — then sends spam messages to everyone in your network without clear consent.

Roach Motel Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Roach motel is a dark pattern where it's easy to enter a situation (sign up, subscribe, start a trial) but extremely difficult to leave (cancel, delete account, unsubscribe).

Infinite Scroll Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Infinite scroll is a dark pattern when deliberately used to prevent users from stopping — removing natural stopping points to maximize time-on-site and ad exposure at the cost of user well-being.

Auto-Play Dark Pattern — What It Is & Examples

Auto-play is a dark pattern where audio or video content starts playing automatically — consuming bandwidth, disturbing users, and making them scramble to find the mute or stop button.