Staying at the Roach Motel: Cross-Country Analysis of Manipulative Subscription and Cancellation Flows

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how popular news websites across four countries implement manipulative subscription and cancellation flows, highlighting design features that hinder user cancellation and the need for regulation.

Contribution

It provides a cross-country analysis of subscription and cancellation flows, identifying common manipulative design patterns and discussing regulatory implications.

Findings

Many cancellation flows include intentional barriers such as typing phrases or calling support.

Numerous subscription flows lack clear information about recurring charges.

Design features often coerce or trick users into continuing payments.

Abstract

Subscribing to online services is typically a straightforward process, but cancelling them can be arduous and confusing -- causing many to resign and continue paying for services they no longer use. Making the cancellation intentionally difficult is recognized as a dark pattern called Roach Motel. This paper characterizes the subscription and cancellation flows of popular news websites from four different countries, and discusses them in the context of recent regulatory changes. We study the design features that make it difficult to cancel a subscription and find several cancellation flows that feature intentional barriers, such as forcing users to type in a phrase or call a representative. Further, we find many subscription flows that do not adequately inform users about recurring charges. Our results point to a growing need for effective regulation of designs that trick, coerce, or manipulate users into paying for subscriptions they do not want.