Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Enshittification

2025-06-22T11:09:53Z

Gyorokpeter:

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'''Enshittification''', also known as '''crapification''' and '''platform decay''' is a pattern in which two-sided online products and services decline in quality over time. Initially, companies create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders.

The term was first coined by tech blogger Cory Doctorow in November 2022 and has since gained widespread recognition.

==How it works==
<blockquote>''"It is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a "two-sided market," where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them."'' - Cory Doctorow, ''Wired,'' 2023</blockquote>Enshittification at its core is a three-stage process.

===Stage 1 - Incentivizing Mass Adoption===
Companies offer their product or service to users with great incentive to try and build an established userbase. It is usually during the early stage of the company is the most focused on providing a positive user experience and listening to feedback.

For example, [[Uber]] was initially well-received for offering competitive prices for transportation, leading to a large userbase adopting the platform.

===Stage 2 - Catering to Business Clients===
Once a stable userbase is locked in, companies begin offering access to the userbase to business customers with great incentive. This stage is usually when the user experience begins to decline as the company is now more focused on catering to partners such as suppliers and advertisers.

For example, in 2023, Reddit removed free access to their API nearing the time of its IPO.<ref name="TheVergeAnnouncement">{{Cite web |last=Shakir |first=Umar |date=April 18, 2023 |title=Reddit's upcoming API changes will make AI companies pony up |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23688463/reddit-developer-api-terms-change-monetization-ai |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614020642/https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23688463/reddit-developer-api-terms-change-monetization-ai |archive-date=June 14, 2023 |access-date=June 17, 2023 |work=[[The Verge]]}}</ref> Then, in 2024, Reddit struck a $60M deal with Google to give access to its user-generated content for AI training data.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tong |first=Anna |last2=Wang |first2=Echo |last3=Coulter |first3=Martin |last4=Tong |first4=Anna |last5=Wang |first5=Echo |date=2024-02-22 |title=Exclusive: Reddit in AI content licensing deal with Google |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/reddit-ai-content-licensing-deal-with-google-sources-say-2024-02-22/ |access-date=2025-06-20 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>

===Stage 3 - Quality Degradation for Shareholders===
When both users and business partners are locked in, the company shifts its surpluses to the shareholders. It no longer has any incentive to grow or maintain quality for either of its customer bases and relentlessly seeks profit at any rate for the shareholders. Companies at this stage also tend to have such a large market presence that switching barriers naturally (or intentionally) fall into place for those trying to leave for alternatives.

An ongoing example is [[YouTube]]'s [[YouTube#Crackdown against ad-blockers|crackdown on users using ad-blockers]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube intensifies crackdown on ad blockers {{!}} AdGuard |url=https://adguard.com/en/blog/youtube-new-banner-adblockers-violate-tos.html |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=AdGuard Blog |language=en}}</ref> While such a crackdown might reduce ad-blocker usage and increase short-term shareholder returns, it degrades the experience for users and reduces the quality of impressions for advertisers. Over 30% of the world's population uses YouTube, with a ~98% market share in online video media.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube - Market Share, Competitor Insights in Media Players And Streaming Platforms |url=https://www.6sense.com/tech/media-players-and-streaming-platforms/youtube-market-share |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=6sense}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=23 Essential YouTube Statistics You Need to Know in 2025 |url=https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/youtube-statistics |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=The Social Shepherd |language=en}}</ref>

==Why it is a problem==

===Erosion of user experiences===
It can cause frustration among customers, for example Netflix has started locking down movies behind expensive plans, so customers are frustrated into subscribing to a more expensive plan.

Enshittification can also lead to [[wikipedia:Feature creep|feature creep]] - especially when new features of a product are intended to further lock in users and increase revenue. This creep can lead to an overall reduction in performance due to bloat and increase complexity, reducing a product's usability. A prime example of feature creep caused in large part by late-stage enshittification is Microsoft Windows.

===Switching barriers===
Enshittified platforms that act as intermediaries can act as both a monopoly on services and a monopsony on customers, as high switching barriers prevent either from leaving even when better alternatives technically exist. These barriers can be intentionally put in place - such as restricting the user's ability to transfer data or communicate between platforms - or unintentional, such as a platform's userbase being so large that it naturally makes it near impossible for users or partners to find equivalent engagement on an alternative platform.

An example of this would be a long-time eBay seller hoping to leave the site for an alternative with lower fees (possibly Mercari or Etsy). They might first encounter issues migrating all of their listings over to the new platform; a process which could be tedious. Their feedback history will certainly not carry over to the new platform so buyers are initially less likely to view them as trustworthy, potentially impacting sales. Lastly, the alternative platform likely has a vastly smaller userbase than eBay so despite all the possible benefits - the seller is less likely to be successful on the new platform than they are on eBay.

Such switching barriers can create an adversarial relationship between platform users or business partners and the company they're dependent on. The users or partners cannot be successful without access to the wide reach of the platform - but it leaves them wholly dependent on a company that no longer has their best interests in mind.

===Platform death===
A potential end-scenario for enshittified platforms is death, usually caused by a large enough exodus of users and business partners, and a general loss of trust. A platform may not truly "die" per se, but it can completely lose the identity that made it successful in the first place - and might not ever regain it. An ongoing example is [[X Corp|Twitter]] post Elon Musk's takeover. Under its new ownership and branding, the platform drove away swathes of its userbase and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky) after its policy shifts proved widely unpopular.

However, the death of an enshittified platform is not an entirely positive end result. It uproots a long established userbase and can greatly disrupt their activities. There is also the chance that alternative platforms lack feature parity with the old platform or that it might not even be able to support the massive influx of new users - at least for some amount of time. At worst, data loss could be involved meaning years worth of information - if not archived beforehand - could potentially be lost if a platform shuts down in some capacity.

==Possible solutions==

===End-to-end principal===
...

===Right of exit===
...

===Public backlash===
...

===Alternative platforms===
...

==Examples==
===E-commerce===
In Doctorow's original post, he discussed the practices of Amazon. The online retailer initially drew in users with products sold below cost and free shipping. Once its userbase was well established, more sellers began to sell their products through Amazon. Finally, Amazon began to add fees to increase profits. In 2023, over 45% of the sale price of items went to Amazon in the form of various fees. Amazon also allows sellers the ability to push their listing higher in search results via its paid Sponsored Products program. Doctorow described advertisement within Amazon as a payola scheme in which sellers bid against one another for search-ranking preference, and said that the first five pages of a search for "cat beds" were half advertisements

eBay is another e-commerce site that followed a similar trajectory, initially offering low fees and a robust buying/selling protection system. Once its userbase of largely secondhand buyers and sellers was solidified, eBay raised seller fees and began incentivizing large volume sellers - often actual businesses - with lower selling fees should they subscribe to eBay Store. eBay sellers are also no longer able to leave negative feedback for buyers, greatly reducing the ability of sellers to avoid bad actors. Since then, eBay has introduced promoted listings that are effectively analogous to Amazon's paid sponsored listing system. eBay has also encouraged sellers to use AI generated descriptions that often misrepresent the condition of items being sold, along with opting all of its users into in-house AI training [[Ebay AI opt in by default|by default]] as of its April 21, 2025 privacy policy revision.

===Media streaming platforms===
The enshittification of Netflix is similarly reflected in other streaming platforms such as YouTube TV and Amazon Prime Video, where prices have increased despite a decline (or at least no perceivable improvement) in overall service quality.

===Search engines===
Google...

===Social media===
Facebook...

Instagram...

Twitter/X...

TikTok...

YouTube...

===Software===
Adobe...

Windows...

===Video Games===
Unity...

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Common terms]]

Buy now, pay later

2025-04-08T16:56:47Z

Gyorokpeter:

BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) is a financing option being offered by more and more companies to increase sales. The practice consists of an interest-free payment plan where the customer pays in installment payments because they cannot currently afford the item they currently wish to purchase in full.

==How it works==
When purchasing an item, the customer is contractually obligated to make installment payments on the item being purchased without interest. Plans can be divided into equal parts in which the customer will pay until the item is completely paid off. Payment plan agreements can be quite flexible ranging from weekly, bi-weekly and even monthly depending on the agreement. Missing a payment can incur late fees (which do incur interest if you're unable to pay it), account fund freezes, or in worst case scenarios, being sent to a debt collector which can affect your credit score.

==Why it is a problem==
Much like credit cards, this provides consumers with a false mindset in which they start to spend more than they actually have. This is due to the first initial part of the payment being a fraction of the total cost. If the consumer is not keeping track of payment dates that are due (since each item being purchased may have separate agreements for when you have to pay), this can lead to a pile-on effect where the customer gets billed a bunch of late fees that they owe interest on because they were not able to pay the agreed upon amount. This can lead the consumer into financial ruin because they now owe the late fee (with interest if not paid immediately) plus the amount that was due. This increases the chances that the next payment owed will be late, leading the consumer into a debt cycle which can eventually lead to bankruptcy.

==Examples==
Using [https://www.affirm.com/ Affirm] to pay for your groceries.

Using [https://www.afterpay.com/ Afterpay] to pay for gas.

Using [https://www.klarna.com/ Klarna] to pay for Doordash deliveries.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Common terms]]

Google Chrome automatically disables uBlock Origin

2025-03-06T13:23:57Z

Gyorokpeter:

On March 4, 2025, Google Chrome automatically disabled uBlock Origin, an adblocker, for all users as part of shift to MV3 version of Chrome

==Background==
Released in 2014, uBlock Origin is a comprehensive adblocker that browser users may install as an extension to avoid advertisements while browsing the web. Given the ever present nature of advertisements on websites, uBlock Origin provides users with a faster and less obtrusive web browsing experience.

In 2018, Google announced that it would begin a shift to a new version of Google Chrome extension manifest called Manifest v3 (MV3) "to create stronger security, privacy, and performance guarantees."<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=https://blog.chromium.org/2018/10/trustworthy-chrome-extensions-by-default.html}}</ref> In 2020, Google released a beta version of MV3.<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=https://blog.chromium.org/2020/12/manifest-v3-now-available-on-m88-beta.html}}</ref> By early 2022, Google Chrome disallowed users to release extensions on the Chrome Extension Store, also known as the Chrome Webstore, that were only incompatible with MV3.<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline}}</ref>

==[Incident]==
{{Placeholder box|Change this section's title to be descriptive of the incident.

Impartial and complete description of the events, including actions taken by the company, and the timeline of the incident coming to the public's attention.}}

===[Company]'s response===
{{Placeholder box|If applicable, add the proposed solution to the issues by the company.}}

==Lawsuit==
{{Placeholder box|If applicable, add any information regarding litigation around the incident here.

===Claims===
Main claims of the suit.

===Rebuttal===
The response of the company or counterclaims.

===Outcome===
The outcome of the suit, if any.}}

==Consumer response==
{{Placeholder box|Summary and key issues of prevailing sentiment from the consumers and commentators that can be documented via articles, emails to support, reviews and forum posts.}}

Users can still browse the web without ads and with reduced tracking by switching to a browser which continues to support Manifest V2 and the full version of uBlock Origin, such as [https://www.getfirefox.com Mozilla Firefox].
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Placeholder box|[[mw:Help:VisualEditor/User_guide#Editing_categories|Add a category]] with the same name as the product, service, website, software, product line or company that this article is about.

The "Incidents" category is not needed.}}

Talk:Hidden EULA language

2025-01-15T12:57:51Z

Gyorokpeter: Created page with "==More accessible title?== This looks like a slang term and it made no sense to me at first. What does "roofie" mean in the first place? Do they put people on the roof so they can kick them off and watch them suffer? Are they hiding the terms on the roof of the house such that you are normally not looking for them? What even is the etymology of the word? I would recommend changing it to something that is more accessible especially to people who speak English as a second..."

==More accessible title?==
This looks like a slang term and it made no sense to me at first. What does "roofie" mean in the first place? Do they put people on the roof so they can kick them off and watch them suffer? Are they hiding the terms on the roof of the house such that you are normally not looking for them? What even is the etymology of the word?

I would recommend changing it to something that is more accessible especially to people who speak English as a second language. For example, "Hidden/Questionable EULA terms".