Dark patterns are spreading in e-commerce – and official action against them is also more frequent

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 05. 05. 11:39

Urging, pressuring, hiding costs or “trickling” them – dark patterns are increasingly being used in commerce, and not only in the online space. The competition authority has also condemned companies for this in several cases in Hungary, so businesses must be especially careful not to fall into the trap of illegally influencing consumers – warns the international law firm Baker McKenzie. The mission of the behavioral science consultants at BeHive is to help consumers and corporate clients avoid these harmful influencing effects through education.

Dark patterns are not a legal concept. They are used for business solutions that aim to manipulate consumers. According to the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH), these are digital messages and user interfaces that imperceptibly prompt people to make unwanted decisions. There is no legislation that contains an exhaustive list of prohibited dark patterns, but consumer protection authorities are increasingly taking action in this regard.

“Basically, all marketing activities are aimed at persuading the consumer. The spread of social media and online sales has expanded the digital space in which dark patterns can be implemented,” said Dr. András M. Horváth, Senior Competition Law Expert at Baker McKenzie. “Even a single click by the consumer can be considered a transactional decision, so businesses should be particularly careful to avoid communication that uses dark patterns.”

Since dark patterns are not a legal concept, it is worth examining influence from both a behavioral science and legal perspective. The first step for every business is to understand and examine consumer impressions, behaviors, and motivations along their business goals and to identify unethical or prohibited business conduct related to them. The Unfair Commercial Practices Act covers some practices that qualify as dark patterns: for example, forcing immediate decision-making with false claims, or persistent and unwanted urging of consumers. The European Commission’s guidelines also mention examples of dark patterns – such as when a business directs the consumer to choose an option that is less favorable to them through the order of options, certain default settings, pre-ticked boxes, or makes it difficult to cancel a subscription after a free trial.

The GVH has already condemned several commercial practices as dark patterns. These include drip pricing – when certain hidden costs only appear at the end of the purchase process –, pre-set tips during the order, or urging during promotions, such as with a countdown clock. But the authority has also condemned a service provider for not providing adequate information about the terms of use in offline advertising forms or influencer marketing.