Suzanne Scacca reviews some “dark patterns” in mobile by looking at some well-known examples and then explaining why they’re always a bad idea. While some companies see short-term gains from dark patterns, they “can easily be outweighed by losses from refunds, low customer retention rates and lawsuits.” This is why Suzanne concludes “dark patterns will ultimately prove not to be worth” their costs.
Suzanne’s views certainly match my experience. I rarely trust a site again once I’ve observed one of these patterns on it.
