The Internet is starting to Break - Here's Why.

Summary

视频脚本深入探讨了大型科技公司如亚马逊、优步、Netflix和Facebook等服务的商业模式，以及它们如何随着时间而变化，逐渐变得对用户不利。作者提到这些公司最初通过解决关键问题并提供卓越的服务来吸引用户，但一旦市场地位稳固，它们便开始改变策略，通过分层服务、提高价格和引入订阅模式来增加利润，同时减少对司机或内容创作者的支付。此外，还讨论了所谓的“黑暗模式”，即公司采取的策略和手段，使用户难以取消订阅或无意中进行额外消费。最后，作者呼吁政策干预，以促进平台间的无缝切换，并确保公司持续提供最初的服务承诺，同时建议消费者对订阅服务保持警惕，并在必要时通过策略性订阅和取消来避免被不公平地收费。

Takeaways

• 📈 **科技公司的商业模式**：大型科技公司如Uber、Netflix、Amazon等，通常遵循相同的模式，即先通过解决关键问题超越用户期望，随后通过市场垄断提高价格，降低服务质量。
• 🚗 **Uber的服务变化**：Uber在初期通过低价和优质服务迅速占领市场，但随着市场地位的稳固，开始提高价格并降低司机分成，同时引入服务分层，导致普通用户等待时间变长。
• 📱 **订阅服务的陷阱**：科技公司通过订阅服务模式锁定用户，并通过分层、额外费用和默认设置等手段，诱使用户支付更多费用，同时减少服务价值。
• 💸 **价格策略和平台费用**：公司在达到市场主导地位后，通过提高平台费用和调整价格策略，从每笔交易中提取尽可能多的利润。
• 📊 **服务分层的影响**：通过服务分层，公司能够为愿意支付更高价格的用户提供更多选择，但这往往以牺牲基础服务的质量和响应时间为代价。
• 📺 **Netflix的订阅模式变化**：Netflix通过引入4K质量和广告，以及提高订阅费用，改变了其服务模式，使得用户为了获得更好的观看体验需要支付更多费用。
• 🛒 **Amazon的定价策略**：Amazon通过Prime会员服务提供所谓的免费配送，但实际上增加了额外费用，并且有时默认选择非最快的配送选项，增加了用户成本。
• 🖥️ **社交媒体的盈利模式**：即使不直接收费，社交媒体公司如Facebook和Instagram通过广告和定向推广来最大化收益，同时使用户难以离开平台。
• 🕸️ **暗模式（Dark Patterns）**：公司采用各种策略和设计手法，如故意混淆的网页设计，来误导或迷惑用户，使他们无意中继续订阅服务或支付更多费用。
• 🔄 **订阅服务的循环**：随着越来越多的订阅服务出现，用户为了不错过内容，不得不支付多个服务的费用，导致单个内容的消费成本上升。
• 💭 **消费者应对策略**：用户应该更加警惕订阅服务的潜在成本，及时取消不需要的订阅，或者通过政策推动更公平的市场环境和更透明的服务提供。

Q & A

为什么作者认为当前的大型科技公司服务比我们想象的要糟糕？

作者认为大型科技公司遵循相同的模式，起初通过解决关键问题提供卓越的用户体验来获得市场份额，但一旦市场地位稳固，它们就会改变策略，牺牲用户和供应商的利益以追求更高的利润。

Uber在初期是如何吸引用户的？

Uber在初期通过提供比传统出租车更便宜、更方便、更清洁、更友好的服务来吸引用户，价格有时仅为传统出租车的50%甚至30%。

大型科技公司在获得市场主导地位后通常会采取哪些策略来增加利润？

在获得市场主导地位后，大型科技公司通常会采取分级定价策略，提高服务的最低价格，同时通过提取更高的平台费用来增加利润。

Netflix在提供服务时采取了哪些策略来增加收入？

Netflix通过引入4K质量的视频和广告支持的订阅层级来增加收入，同时提高了没有广告的基础订阅层级的价格。

作者提到了哪些大型科技公司使用的手段来提高用户的支付意愿？

作者提到了分级定价、订阅服务、平台费用和暗模式（dark patterns）等手段，这些都是用来提高用户的支付意愿和增加公司收入的策略。

什么是暗模式（dark patterns），它们如何影响用户的消费决策？

暗模式是公司用来误导或迷惑用户，使其做出非本意决策的设计和策略。例如，通过复杂的取消订阅流程、默认设置的选项、以及在用户尝试取消订阅时提供的折扣等手段，影响用户的消费决策。

为什么订阅服务在当前的商业模型中如此受欢迎？

订阅服务提供了可预测的定期收入，有助于公司锁定用户，并通过升级销售和更昂贵的服务层级来增加收入。此外，订阅服务还能增加用户的粘性，促使他们为了最大化订阅价值而支付更多。

作者建议消费者如何应对日益增长的订阅服务和相关的暗模式？

作者建议消费者在仅需要使用一个月的订阅服务时立即取消订阅，避免忘记取消而产生额外费用。此外，对于多个视频服务，可以轮流订阅，逐个观看内容。作者还呼吁政策上的支持，比如推动平台间更平滑的切换和保持对消费者的关注。

为什么作者认为订阅服务的增加会导致每个服务的质量下降？

随着订阅服务的增加，为了维持收入，公司可能会开始削减成本，降低服务质量。同时，为了吸引和保留用户，公司可能会采取更多暗模式策略，这可能会导致用户体验的下降。

作者提到了哪些具体的大型科技公司的策略变化？

作者提到了Uber、Netflix、Amazon、Facebook、Instagram等公司的策略变化。例如，Uber提高了价格并引入了分级定价，Netflix引入了4K质量和广告支持的订阅层级，Amazon在Prime服务中引入了额外的交付费用和最低消费要求。

如何理解作者提到的“平台费用”对消费者的影响？

平台费用是大型科技公司从每笔交易中抽取的一部分，这通常会导致消费者支付的价格高于商品或服务的实际价值。例如，作者提到的Uber Eats案例中，平台费用可能导致消费者为同一产品支付远高于店内价格的费用。

作者为什么认为消费者应该对订阅服务保持警惕？

作者认为消费者应该对订阅服务保持警惕，因为这些服务可能会导致消费者支付更多的费用，同时获得的服务却在减少。此外，订阅服务常常伴随着暗模式，使消费者难以取消订阅，从而导致意外的持续费用。

Outlines

00:00

😀 科技巨头的服务变差了吗？

第一段主要讨论了当前大型科技公司如亚马逊、优步、Netflix、Facebook和Instagram等服务的质量变化。作者认为这些服务正在变得比我们想象的更糟糕，并且呼吁人们对此采取行动。文章首先指出，这些科技公司都遵循一个模式：在初期通过解决关键问题来吸引用户，但随着市场地位的巩固，它们开始改变策略，牺牲用户利益以追求更高的利润。以优步为例，它在2009年推出时提供了比传统出租车更便捷、更便宜、更优质的服务，但随着时间推移，优步开始提高价格，并通过分级服务来区分用户，同时减少对司机的支付，从而增加自身的利润。

05:02

😠 用户被剥削的现状

第二段深入探讨了科技公司如何通过分级和订阅服务来最大化利润，同时减少对用户的服务和对供应商的支付。作者以Netflix为例，说明了它如何通过引入4K质量和广告来提高收费，并通过订阅模式来绑定用户。同时，文章还提到了亚马逊如何通过Prime会员服务来提高收费，并且通过增加额外的费用来增加利润。作者强调，这些做法并非为了提升用户体验，而是为了从愿意支付更多费用的用户那里获得更多收入，并且给不愿支付更多费用的用户以最低可接受的体验。

10:02

😡 黑暗模式和不公平的订阅服务

第三段讨论了所谓的'黑暗模式'，即公司用来欺骗或误导消费者的策略，例如通过设置多重步骤来取消订阅，或者在用户尝试取消订阅时提供折扣。文章还提到了亚马逊如何通过预选更慢的配送选项来欺骗用户，即使用户已经为Prime会员服务支付了费用。作者分享了自己在尝试取消PlayStation在线服务订阅时遇到的困难，强调了这些公司如何使用复杂的步骤和策略来阻止用户取消订阅。

15:03

🤔 订阅服务的泛滥和消费者的影响

第四段分析了订阅服务的泛滥如何导致每个服务的质量下降，并且增加了消费者为享受相同服务所需支付的总费用。作者通过比较不同流媒体服务的订阅费用和观看电影的成本，说明了消费者现在需要支付更多的费用来订阅多个服务，以观看他们感兴趣的内容。文章还提到了作者自己的订阅服务数量和每月的总支出，强调了订阅服务对个人财务的影响。

20:04

💡 对策和建议

第五段提出了一些对策和建议，以应对订阅服务和黑暗模式带来的问题。作者建议用户在仅需要使用一个月的订阅服务时立即取消订阅，以避免被绑定。对于需要订阅多个电视服务的情况，建议用户轮流订阅，一次只订阅一个服务，并在短时间内集中观看所需的内容。文章还呼吁政策上的改变，包括推动平台间更平滑的转换和加强监管，以保护消费者利益。作者还推荐了Surfshark VPN作为一个提供优质服务的订阅服务示例，并赞扬了它的价格和不断增加的功能。

Keywords

💡订阅服务

订阅服务是一种商业模式，用户支付固定的周期性费用以获取产品或服务。在视频中，订阅服务被批评为导致消费者支付更多费用，同时服务质量却在下降。例如，Netflix和Amazon Prime在视频开始时提供了低成本、高价值的服务，但随着时间推移，它们引入了不同的订阅层级和额外费用，减少了基础服务的价值。

💡价格分层（Tiering）

价格分层是公司为其产品或服务设置不同价格点的多个层级的做法。视频中提到，Uber和Netflix等公司使用价格分层来区分服务，通常导致基础服务的质量和可访问性下降，而更高层次的服务则需要用户支付更多费用。例如，Netflix为不同的视频质量和服务体验设置了不同的订阅费用。

💡平台费（Platform Fees）

平台费用是指像Uber和Amazon这样的公司从每一笔交易中抽取的一部分费用。视频中指出，随着这些公司在市场上确立了主导地位，它们开始增加平台费用，从而增加了消费者支付的价格，同时减少了供应商的收入。

💡黑暗模式（Dark Patterns）

黑暗模式是指公司用来误导或欺骗用户做出非本意决定的设计和技术。视频中提到，这些模式包括难以找到的取消订阅按钮、默认选项的操纵、以及在取消订阅过程中设置的多重确认步骤。这些做法使得用户很难退出订阅，从而导致公司能够保持用户的持续收入。

💡捆绑销售

捆绑销售是一种营销策略，将两个或多个产品或服务组合在一起以优惠价格出售。在视频中，作者批评了这种做法，因为它通常会导致消费者支付额外费用以获得他们不想要或不需要的服务。例如，Amazon Prime会员除了免费配送外，还捆绑了其他服务，即使用户可能只对配送服务感兴趣。

💡免费试用

免费试用是一种促销手段，允许用户在支付费用前试用产品或服务。然而，视频中提到，免费试用有时会通过设置自动续订来锁定用户，如果用户忘记取消，就可能会无意中被收取费用。例如，作者提到了一个游戏应用的免费试用，由于未能及时取消，结果被收取了高额费用。

💡内容枯竭

内容枯竭是指流媒体服务如Netflix定期从其库中移除电视节目和电影的做法。这可能是为了降低成本或由于版权问题。视频中提到，这种做法减少了用户从订阅服务中获得的价值，尽管他们支付了费用。

💡消费者锁定

消费者锁定是指用户由于各种原因（如成本、便利性或缺乏可行的替代方案）而感到被迫继续使用特定产品或服务的状态。视频中讨论了订阅服务如何通过提供折扣、免费送货或其他福利来锁定用户，使得用户很难转向竞争对手的服务。

💡价格歧视

价格歧视是指公司根据用户的支付意愿或使用模式对同一产品或服务收取不同价格的做法。视频中提到，通过价格分层，公司能够向愿意支付更多费用的用户提供所谓的“高级”服务，同时降低对不愿意或无法支付额外费用的用户的服务质量。

💡长期健康

长期健康在这里指的是企业持续稳定发展的能力。视频中提到，由于许多大型科技公司是上市公司，决策往往由股东驱动，他们更关注短期利润而非公司的长期健康。这导致了对用户和供应商不利的策略，如提高价格和降低服务质量。

💡市场垄断

市场垄断是指一家公司在市场中占据主导地位，几乎没有或没有竞争对手。视频中讨论了大型科技公司如何通过建立用户和供应商基础来形成市场垄断，一旦达到这一地位，它们就可以提高价格并降低服务质量，因为用户和供应商没有其他选择。

Highlights

大型科技公司如Amazon、Uber、Netflix和Facebook等服务正在变得更糟糕，用户需要采取行动。

科技巨头遵循相同的模式：初期通过解决关键问题超越用户期望，随后改变策略。

Uber在2009年推出时，以更低的价格和更好的服务迅速获得市场，但随着市场地位的稳固，开始改变对司机和乘客的政策。

大型科技公司通过分级服务（Tiering）和提高价格，减少了基础服务的价值，同时为愿意支付更多费用的用户提供更多高级服务。

Netflix通过引入4K质量和广告，改变了其服务模式，减少了基础订阅的价值。

订阅服务本身可以是有益的，但当前大型科技公司的订阅模式往往意味着用户支付更多，却得到更少的服务。

Amazon Prime最初提供无限次日送货服务，但现在用户常常需要支付额外费用或满足最低消费才能享受该服务。

Uber通过提高价格和引入Uber One订阅服务，进一步增加了用户的支出，并减少了服务的价值。

Uber Eats通过提高食品价格和收取多种费用，从每笔交易中获取高额收益。

Amazon通过收取Prime费用、额外的送货费以及向卖家和买家收费，增加了用户的成本。

社交媒体平台如Facebook和Instagram通过操纵默认选项和使用暗模式（Dark Patterns），从用户那里获取更多收益。

暗模式包括故意混淆的网站设计、难以取消订阅的流程和操纵默认选项，以误导用户。

用户在尝试取消订阅服务时，平均会遇到六种以上的暗模式。

随着越来越多的订阅服务出现，每个服务的质量都在下降，用户为了享受同样的内容，不得不支付更多的费用。

作者建议用户在只打算使用一个月的订阅服务时，使用后立即取消订阅，以避免未来的费用。

为了应对订阅服务的问题，需要政策上的支持，比如促进平台间更平滑的转换和保持对消费者的关注。

Surf Shark VPN作为一个正面的例子，提供了一个不断改进的服务，没有采用暗模式或不公平的定价策略。

Transcripts

Amazon sucks right now Uber sucks right

now Netflix Sucks Facebook sucks

Instagram sucks every big tech company

is changing in front of our very eyes

and I know I usually try and see the

bright side of tech but for this video I

just want to be very brutally honest I

think most of these Services we use are

worse than you think and I want people

to do something about it the first thing

to understand is basically every big

tech company follows the exact same

pattern something that a guy called

Corey drro summarized really well with

the term ification see when any of these

companies first starts their only chance

of succeeding is to go above and beyond

for their users by solving a key problem

let's take Uber for example Uber came in

in 2009 and I remember first using it

around that time and thinking this is

the end for traditional taxis this is

far more convenient the taxis find me

instead of the other way around the

drivers are friendlier the cars are

cleaner and it did all of that while

being so much cheaper I mean Uber at the

start was 50% sometimes 30% of the price

of a traditional taxi and so it's not

surprising just how quickly people

flooded onto Uber I remember that within

just about a year of it becoming

operational it went all the way from

party trick to an essential app that

everyone should have but then things

changed as soon as Uber felt like they

had the user side of the market cornered

completely locked into the app they

switched Focus to the other side the

drivers cuz the users aren't going

anywhere at this point and so if Uber

can manage to control them and also the

drivers Uber owns the market it means

the users will have to stay where the

drivers are and the drivers will have to

stay where the users are so they

sweetened the deal for them Uber started

handing out sign on bonuses for new

joiners they started giving cashback on

fuel and discounts on car maintenance

they paid their drivers 80% of what the

app made and the best part of it was

Surge pricing anytime there was a pickup

in demand drivers could well earn two

times three times sometimes more I

remember coming out of a music festival

once thinking I don't need to pre-book

my car Uber will sort me out only to

realize that because I was coming out

with crowds of other people my only way

to get guantee that I got an Uber was to

outp pay all of them with five times

surge pricing I paid £100 for a 15minute

cabide but there is a third stage to

this master plan because what does Uber

do when they have the users when they

know they're by far the most convenient

way to hail a cab and they have the

suppliers the X taxi drivers the

restaurant takeaway drivers the package

delivery drivers well that is when true

entation occurs they gave users a

surplus at the start to make their app

essential then shifted to giving

suppliers that Surplus to get them all

on it to build Monopoly power and make

it much harder to get a car outside of

uber but this is the point where Uber

and every other big tech company in this

position will take all of that Surplus

for themselves because a well they can

but also be because by the time a

company reaches this stage more than

likely they are a public company which

means that the decisions aren't being

made by one potentially passionate

founder but instead just many many

shareholders and because because

shareholders aren't usually as invested

in the long-term health of the business

they just want the business to earn

quick money so that they can cash out

their objectives often boil down to how

do we make the users pay up until the

absolute limit of what they're willing

to but just not past it and then how do

we pay the suppliers the absolute least

that they're willing to take but just

not less than it so this is what that in

ification looks like in practice and it

all starts with tiering splitting the

base service up into multiple tiers all

at different price points and on the

face of it that sounds great like on

Uber for example it means that you can

now get priority if you want faster

Comfort which is newer cars with more

leg room exec which is highend cars with

top rated drivers and then Lux which is

the very very top end think about it now

that they offer all of these options

what happens when you're just getting a

normal Uber now you get extremely long

wait times because no driver who can

charge exec prices is going to take a

ride for normal prices you get all the

drivers who don't qualify for high rated

service and all the cars that don't

count is new enough for comfort and

trust me when I say the requirements for

Comfort are not very high this idea of

splitting things up to offer more

premium Services it's not inherently bad

it's just the way these companies

achieve this is much less about making

the experience better for the people who

are paying more but much more about just

making it worse for the people who

aren't Uber isn't changing the pool of

cars on the road to accommodate these

tiers they're the same cars the same

people with the same training but it's

just now they're segregated in a way

that each user user pays the maximum

they're willing to pay and the service

provided is the bare minimum for that

price or take Netflix when Netflix first

started it felt revolutionary I can pay

£5.99 a month which is cheaper than an

average movie ticket nowadays and get

all of this at free but then Netflix

introduced 4K quality which instead of

just being added to the base service

became part of a separate tier now being

charged at 17.99 a month then they

actually went as far as to introduce

adverts back into your movies after the

whole deal about this being the way to

watch movies without adverts and unless

you upgrade to the middle subscription

tier which is £10.99 you're going to get

those adverts Netflix isn't even the

worst offender to be honest at least

their ad supported tier is cheaper than

the normal tier whereas Now TV and

Amazon Prime they just stuck ads into

the normal tier the point is tiering is

not being used to benefit the user it's

being used to charge you more if you're

willing to pay more and then give you

the minimum acceptable experience if

you're not and that brings me on to

subscriptions in general en

subscriptions on their own they can be

fine they can be a way to make Services

more accessible instead of having to

frontload a big upfront cost they can be

a way to force companies to continue to

provide value and updates over a period

of time but the way that these big tech

companies are using subscriptions now

has meant that we're often not paying

those monthly subscriptions instead of

the bigger upfront costs we're paying

them both and you're actually getting a

worse service now whilst paying for a

subscription than you were originally

for free like Amazon for example the

entire purpose of Amazon Prime was

unlimited one-day deliveries so why is

it that now we're also having to often

pay to get the fastest delivery and for

many products actually having to hit a

minimum spend just to get that perk

which is how every online store has ever

worked since the very beginning but

without needing to pay a monthly fee or

for Uber I regularly used to take Ubers

to go see drisha early on when we were

dating she was about 120 miles away and

it used to cost about

£120 but over the last few years I have

seen that price not just creep but sore

up to 1502 200 250 and now

£300 Uber has gone from half the price

of a normal taxi to in a lot of cases

actually more expensive than just

calling up your local cap company and

pre-booking a car and remember that's

for the lowest tier which because this

tiering exists means that you are

specifically selecting a car that's at

least 8 years old with a driver who's

completed less than 100 trips or someone

who just hasn't been able to keep a good

rating and you remember that surge

pricing we talked about earlier that

still exists but now you just don't see

it instead of uber telling you that

you're about to pay three times what you

should be paying it just does it so that

you start losing your reference point of

what the journey even should cost and

that is where the subscription service

comes in to save the day Uber one I'm

paying for it every single month because

it gives you a 5% discount on your rides

and free delivery on your Uber Eats food

orders I'll get to that one very soon

cuz that is actually an even bigger

problem in itself but the point I'm

trying to make here is that if Uber is

just inventing the price if Uber is just

deciding how much it can charge you for

this particular Journey as opposed to

giving you an actual breakdown of why it

costs what it costs then a 5% discount

on a madeup price it doesn't actually

mean anything and you're still paying

far far more than you used to just a few

years ago for the same rides and now you

have a monthly expense as well that

further ties you into using Uber and

Uber only for all your driving and

delivery needs and if you're enjoying

this rather painful video then a sub to

the channel would be

[Music]

ironic because we're asking you for a

subscription but this one's free and we

do try very hard so anyway if you're

wondering why that Uber now cost £300

well it's not because the drivers have

started earning more the biggest way

that companies like uber and Amazon once

they become the default option start to

take all of that Surplus away is simply

by extracting the largest cut that they

possibly can from every transaction

let's call this the platform fees let me

show you Uber Eats for a minute so so I

fancy some McDonald's chicken nuggets

McDonald's right okay wow so the first

thing you'll notice is pricing almost

every item of food on Uber Eats is

between 10 and no joke 100% more

expensive than it actually is in person

like 20 chicken nuggets

£6.99 that seems like an awful lot but

okay add to basket so then when we go

into our basket oh look at that add £81

to save with Uber 1 so again notice just

like with Amazon Prime Uber is trying

trying to frame this as if I'm getting

some sort of perk when actually free

delivery is something that I'm actively

paying a monthly subscription just to

get and the app is denying that benefit

until I hit a minimum spend which by the

way almost always means wastage I mean

it's encouraging people to order more

than they want to order besides what can

I order that's going to exactly hit £81

I'm going to have to go over but anyway

let's go to the next page oh people also

ordered to really try and tempt me into

getting those group savings but no

resist next oh my goodness would you

look at that priority delivery

£249 and just to be very clear priority

delivery isn't some sort of hyper

accelerated personalized service that

would very much be worth that price all

it means is your driver doesn't take

stops on the way to you you know exactly

how every takeaway service ever used to

work and this is a great example of

tearing when Uber Eats first started it

was just an assumed thing that of course

your driver is going to come straight to

you to deliver your order up until

normal restaurant takeaway service have

been eliminated and now well you want

fast you pay for fast so okay fine we're

going to go priority I don't want my

food to be cold when it gets to me and

then you scroll down and oh priority

delivery is actually being charged at

£478 and that's because it's actually on

top of an already existing base delivery

fee and then there's just fee so if I

click that it says part of that is the

small order fee for orders less than £10

because orders less than £10 should have

an extra charge because they're going to

cost more to be delivered what because

the priority delivery fee is my delivery

fee so why is there a separate delivery

fee for the fact that my order is small

do you see what I'm saying and then

there's the service fee and this is what

Uber wants you to think of as their cut

but the truth is Uber is taking a slice

out of every single part of this pie

actually I can show you so McDonald's

chicken nuggets price okay so it's £ 449

on the McDonald's app which basically

means that just for delivery Uber is

taking 70% % of the value of the order

what a joke and this is actually what I

find the most insulting part of it it's

the fact that we're paying a monthly

subscription for Uber 1 right I've just

paid extra for priority delivery which

says between 10 and 20 minutes but when

you click order Uber will only get

involved and even think about refunding

you anything if the order actually takes

45 minutes or longer okay so just to be

very clear your special guarantee just

for me because I'm one of your highest

paying customers is that my order will

not take two and half times longer than

the upper limit of what you just

guaranteed it might oh well thank you

very much Uber one it is mortifying how

much they're exploiting the consumer

here I mean imagine what happens if

companies like this get in charge of

your medical and Emergency Services

Amazon is just as bad the other day

drisha was buying a batch of mini little

hampers for some gifts she was putting

together £12.99 is the absolute cheapest

you could find them on Amazon and just

before we checked out we thought let's

just do one little check elsewhere and

within a minute of browsing outside of

Amazon we found them for £4 it's so easy

to fall into the Trap of thinking well

I've paid my delivery fee that's what

I'm paying the subscription cost for

there's no way that this thing is going

to be cheaper in another store that I'm

not paying a monthly fee to have free

delivery from that's what they want you

to think but the truth is Amazon is

charging for prime Amazon is charging

extra for delivery in some cases Amazon

is charging sellers to sell on the

platform and then they're charging you

extra to buy on the platform and you can

even notice this effect with free plat

platforms social media for example even

though companies like Facebook and

Instagram Tik Tok even YouTube even

though they're not directly charging you

will still absolutely find ways to

maximize their earnings from you once

they know that you're in once Facebook

had got ever on to sign up for the first

time by being this open Haven where you

come to keep connected with every single

person you know and love they became

very aware that no individual person

could just leave that would be social

suicide so Facebook could Crank That

money-making lever as much as they

wanted to they could fill it with ads

they could charge companies as much as

they wanted to Target Those ads at you

they can curate your feed taking the

people you follow not as commands of

what you want to see but just

suggestions suggestions that are quite

quickly discarded as soon as Facebook

realizes what they can show you to make

more money out of you now where this all

gets really deceptive is the dark

patterns basically tricks that companies

employ to make you do things that you

didn't mean to do chicken nuggets are

here I'm actually fasting so I can't eat

them

there you go enjoy them they were £

1375 last year actually I signed up to

using an app called Piccolo it's just a

social or drinking game where it serves

you prompts on your phone and then you

get those people to do those things like

hey Brian from now on you have to do the

worm every single time you say

something sorry Brian the game's got a

3-day free trial oh great but then it's

£49 per week £44 per week for a game

that's very clearly been designed to be

played once a month at most and I would

have happily bought it for £4.49 or

even1 if that's what they charg it as as

a one-off fee you know how it used to be

before the subscription thing took over

but anyway I went for the free trial I

played the game with my friends we were

drinking so I didn't specifically

remember to cancel it when I woke up the

next day and it took half a year when my

accountant asked what is this £4.49

every week going to Apple when he

mentioned it I realized I had seen it a

couple of times coming up on my accounts

but because it was just a payment to

Apple I assumed oh it must be iCloud or

something negligent on my end yes

absolutely but I'm human I forgot once

and my penalty for that for playing one

phone game for 2 hours one night about

£110 there are plenty of subscription

Services I have that I think are fair

but this is a very clear example of one

that is predatory one whose entire

business model clearly revolves around

charging an unfair price and hoping that

people will forget another dark pattern

that I see so so much of nowadays is the

manipulation of the default option like

I shop a lot on Amazon right and the

reason for that is that even though I

know they're often no longer the

cheapest is that they're basically the

only company whose delivery

infrastructure I can mostly rely on the

only company for who when they say next

day it really does mean that it will

come next day this is the key problem

that Amazon first solved for its users

it's what godess also invested in the

platform and well got me and millions of

others to start paying monthly

subscriptions to Prime but now Amazon as

well as often times introducing a

minimum order quantity to get that free

delivery also often pre-selects the

slower delivery option with and I've

looked into this no way to stop it doing

that so let me just get this straight

you're charging me a monthly

subscription for unlimited next day

delivery but then assuming that unless I

specify otherwise I'd rather get the

slower delivery that I didn't have to

pay for and this is absolutely an

example of a dark pattern cuz we've had

at least three or four occasions where

we're about to film a video and then we

realize some of the stuff that we'

ordered for that video hasn't actually

arrived we go back and we realize it's

because when checking out in a hurry we

didn't realize that Amazon didn't select

the fastest option that was advertised

to us as the delivery window on the

product page honestly at this point

there is an intricate web of dark

patterns these companies are using and

you'll absolutely have experienced some

of them like deliberately confusing

website design intended to fool or

confuse the customer into not canceling

their subscription for example it's

quite common to have multiple Pages you

have to go through to cancel but then

what some companies have started doing

is flipping the continue and the back

buttons between each page so as you're

trying to mash your mouse as quickly as

possible to unsubscribe you're actually

being taken around and around the

company's pages in a loop so that you

end up reading their entire Spiel

aggressively offering you discounts and

only offering those discounts right

before you decide you want to cancel

which always makes you realize how much

you were overpaying in the first place

encouraging you to pause your

subscription so that that it

automatically resumes after a set period

of time as opposed to you being a

functioning adult who can just cancel

and then rejoin later if you decide you

want to and trying every single thing

they can to guilt you with the fear of

missing out with things like continue

your deactivation only if you are a

boring person who never likes to have

fun again there was a big study by email

tool tester who found that the average

consumer encounters over six dark

patterns when trying to cancel any

Subscription Service nowadays I mean

imagine talking to a person and they try

to mislead you six times in the span of

a few minutes that's so bad that it's

hard to wrap your head around I actually

experienced one of the worst examples of

this just last week when I found myself

with a little bit of spare time and I

thought I'd love to get just one month's

worth of PlayStation online play that

should be simple right so I opened up

the purchase page for online and no I

don't want premium no I don't want extra

I just want to play online but wait

there's no option to just buy one month

there used to be does it just assume

assume now that when I subscribe I want

to stay subscribed forever but okay fine

so I'll just buy the essential package

and then I'll cancel straight away so

that I don't get charged in any

subsequent months so I do that but then

where's the cancel button you'd think

you'd be able to go to the same place

you bought it from to cancel but no the

only thing you can do on that page is to

upgrade the cancel is actually hidden in

your console settings but where in the

settings I spent so long looking I gave

up and I actually had to Google to find

that you have to go into users and

accounts then you go into account then

payment and subscriptions then

subscriptions then click PlayStation

Plus okay so then surely you just click

cancel and you're good right oh no

because then it asks you if you'd rather

change your plan after I've specifically

chosen to click the cancel button

instead of the change button okay so

click cancel are you sure you're about

to lose these benefits and more then

when you confirm yet another window

asking you for your reasons before it

will actually let you cut but it's not

even just about what any one company

does in isolation it's just the fact

that every big tech company is doing a

subscription is in itself part of the

problem because in most cases the more

subscription Services there are the

worse each one gets and the more that

you end up having to pay just to be able

to still do the things you want to do

see you have a limited amount of time

right let's say you have enough spare

time to watch two movies a week in an

era where subscribing to Netflix at its

original £599 price lets you watch all

the big blockbuster movies people were

talking about that's a cracking deal

you're basically paying 75p per movie

but then Disney plus comes along and

takes Disney owned shows onto their own

platform Apple TV plus comes along

Amazon Prime video Paramount Plus

Peacock and every single one takes the

rights for one or two of the big

exclusive mustat shows and before you

know it you're paying like six different

subscription Services combine that with

the tiering which means that if you want

the perks and the adree experience that

you initially signed up for along with

that high quality you'll be paying

mostly between £10 and 20 per month to

each one remember your time hasn't

increased the amount of content you

consume hasn't changed you're just

paying movie Rent to more different

companies and using each service much

less amounting to £1 per movie you watch

now which is about what you would have

paid for a DVD in the first place it

feels like we've looped all the way

around and now we're back in the same

place we were except now you don't own

anything and services like Netflix are

constantly culling their libraries just

to keep their cost down I was counting

up the number of my own paid

subscriptions I had a few days ago while

planning out this video and it's only

when I tossed it all up that I realized

just how ridiculous it's become like

just for work I subscribe to epidemic

sound slack Trello the entire Adobe

Creative Suite frame.io Sur shark

Twitter blue Google Drive Uber one a

whole load of different plugins and then

personally Netflix Spotify Vodafone

tidal Apple TV plus Apple iCloud Amazon

Prime YouTube premium delivery plus

PlayStation Plus Xbox Live Nintendo

switch on online oh my God so the total

I spend on subscriptions in a month is

1,212 per month oh my

God now the truth is subscriptions and

the dark patterns that often come with

them they're not going anywhere it's not

surprising that every single company

wants them they give predictable regular

Revenue which is basically the holy

grail for businesses I mean it's a lot

more encouraging to say to investors we

have a th users and you can expect 950

of them to pay again next month than to

say 1,000 people bought our product

we'll try and get more next time it's

way easier to get people in with a cheap

subscription and then upsell them later

on with add-ons and more expensive tiers

as opposed to having to go all in with

the big upfront Hard Sell on a big

purchase and also subscriptions create

lockin so the people who are subscribed

they're not just paying you for the

subscription but they're also likely to

keep paying you more while trying to

make the most out of that subscription

and then finally lots and lots of money

I mean here's what a company's Revenue

looks like if they sell 100 products

each month for £10 and here's what that

same company's Revenue looks like if

they sell 100 subscriptions for £2 a

month it overtakes the individual

purchases very quickly and it just keeps

accelerating so what do we do about it

well just me to you what I would do is

when you sign up to a subscription that

you know you only want to use for a

month just cancel it straight away

you'll get that first month and you can

make sure it's nothing past that if

you're stuck subscribing to every single

one of the TV Serv Services because you

don't want to miss out and you do want

to watch them all you could just try

rotating subscribing to one at a time

binging the thing that you most want to

watch on that one for one month and then

moving on to the next but then part of

it also has to be policy we should be

pushing for governments to enforce

smoother switching between platforms

like still being able to contact your

Facebook friends without having to be an

active Facebook user and focusing on

making platforms continue to deliver on

their initial promises beyond that

initial honeymoon phase so a social

media platform for example should first

show you what you signed up to see as

opposed to what will drive the most

retention Amazon should first show you

the product it genuinely thinks is best

matched to your search as opposed to

who's paid the most to advertise and

Google search should first show you the

reviews that it thinks best answer your

questions as opposed to just assuming

that Google's own reviews should always

be on top and then also just keeping the

consumer in mind when it comes to

companies fragmenting a lot of attention

is given to when companies get too big

and rightly so that's a big issue but

but it's also bad for the consumer

especially in this subscription era when

they get split up in ways that make each

one a worse proposition in their own

right now one of the few subscriptions

that I have that I genuinely think flies

in the face of most of this is surf Shar

VPN for a few reasons it actually fixes

the mess created by some other

subscription services like Netflix who

don't buy the licenses to all their

shows in all the countries so every

country has a different Library which

this lets you access by just flicking

your location it doesn't have any of

those weird catches like like this

subscription only works for people so

long as they stay in the same household

no this subscription works for you and

every single person you know they didn't

price themselves at $20 or $15 or $10

it's less than $3 a month when you use

the code boss with 3 months for free

with a 30-day money back guarantee and

most importantly instead of in ifying

themselves surf shark has actually

gotten better I've been using it for

years now and the app has got clean up

there are no ads baked in there's been

no price creep and the number of

features included for this one price it

keeps going up up not down big thanks to

Cory drro by the way I've been reading a

lot of his stuff while planning out this

video and I'll pop his main articles

below if you want to have a read catch

you in the next one