ASCI Plans To Add ‘Dark Patterns’ In Its Online Adverts Code

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) looks to extend its online adverts code about ‘dark patterns’ in online advertising to protect the interest of online consumers.

Essentially, dark patterns in online adverts refer to disguised advertisements that trick people into sharing their information or buying products and services.

Explaining the dark patterns, ASCI in its white paper said that the dark patterns are online user interfaces created to dupe users to make wrong preferences such as buying an expensive product, sharing personal information, and paying more for a product than its initial cost.

ASCI further said that ecommerce websites spend a large chunk of money in designing these user interfaces, which eventually become an additional source of revenue.

“However, when these are done in a way that steers the consumer to choices that are prejudicial to their interest, a line is crossed,” ASCI said.

At present, ASCI asks businesses to self-regulate their online advertisements by keeping them simple, legal and truthful. 

The self-regulatory body proposed that in its revamped guidelines, it will classify dark patterns into four categories–drip pricing, bait and switch, false urgency and disguised advertising.

Detailing about the drip pricing, ASCI said that when users are buying products online, sometimes they see only a part of the product’s price and subsequently decide to purchase it. However, reaching the website’s payment gateway, users see a different elated price. The difference between the initial price and final price, users get ambiguous. 

ASCI condemns this misrepresentation and asks businesses that the quoted price should include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and other allied charges. 

Talking about Bait and Switch practice, users buy products or services expecting desired results. However, they are not given the anticipated experience. For example, when a user buys a product at a given price but afterwards, he or she can only get some access to that and asked to pay further to get more access.

Besides, false urgency refers to companies displaying (on their website) that they have a certain product in the limited quantity as compared to what they actually are.

The development has come merely a day after ASCI released a list of 300+ companies and influencers violating its advertising guidelines in digital media. 

As per the list, Amazon sellers, Nykaa, Country Delight, Motorola and Xiaomi are some of the companies that did not comply with ASCI’s guidelines. While, Amitabh Bachchan, Vaani Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff are some of the influencers that also breached the said guidelines.