Report from the MediaPost
In Brief – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that online dating service Match Group has agreed to pay $14 million to settle a complaint that was initially filed by the regulator in 2019. The FTC accused Match of violating the federal Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act by failing to provide consumers with a simple way to cancel subscriptions, and also deceived subscribers by promising them a free six-month membership if they didn’t “meet someone special” without clearly disclosing key terms that often nullified the offer. The settlement agreement, which must be approved by US District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade, requires Match to disclose to consumers all material terms relating to promises like its “six-month guarantee,” and to provide consumers with a simple way to cancel subscriptions. A Match Group spokesperson said the company did not admit liability as part of the settlement and called the FTC’s claims “outdated” and “entirely moot”, claiming that the alleged practices “do not reflect our business today.” The FTC plans to use proceeds from the settlement to provide redress to affected consumers.
Context – Consumer advocates often allege that people cancelling digital subscriptions are dissuaded by so-called “dark patterns”, a term used to describe various design practices including complicated menus, skewed wording, confusing choices, and repeated nudging. The bipartisan FTC complaint against Match Group was initiated during the first Trump Administration, but the Lina Khan-led FTC expanded the campaign in ways that did not win bipartisan backing, including suits targeting Adobe and Amazon, as well as a “Click to Cancel” rulemaking requiring companies offering services under subscription plans to allow consumers to cancel their subscription in a manner as simple as they signed up for the subscription. That rule was challenged by a collection of business trade groups and was vacated by the Federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in June, ruling that the FTC failed to conduct a preliminary regulatory analysis of the costs and benefits of the rule and potential alternatives.