High-demand claim
Fabricated live-viewer count
A fictional travel site displays “42 people are viewing this” from a fixed script that runs for every result and visitor.
Individual HTML example · Urgency
Old booking spike presented as current demand
A fictional seller says “Selling fast today” using sales from the launch week three months earlier.
This is an original fictional comparison. It depicts no real company and is not a legal finding or safe harbour.
Old booking spike presented as current demand
A fictional seller says “Selling fast today” using sales from the launch week three months earlier.
Selling fast today. The supporting sales period ended three months ago.. Tickets moving quickly. Claim basis, collapsed
Ticket availability. Remaining allocation and refresh time are shown without a stale demand claim.. 312 tickets at 14:05. Claim basis, expanded: The relevant population, period, inventory or offer state is presented with the message.. View the source and period for “312 tickets at 14:05”
Why the first version can mislead: The message applies immediate pressure at the pricing decision. The cue “Tickets moving quickly” should correspond to a defined operating state and a real consequence. The example instead states: “The supporting sales period ended three months ago.” Historical popularity is framed as immediate demand and may rush a decision.
What a fairer design does: State the actual period behind a demand claim or remove the claim when it is no longer current.
Show annotated differences (2)
Potentially problematic version
- Claim basis, collapsedIn “Old booking spike presented as current demand”, this element shows how high-demand claim can shape the decision.
Neutral alternative
- View the source and period for “312 tickets at 14:05”In “Old booking spike presented as current demand”, this element keeps the clearer alternative visible at the same decision point.
Review questions (3)
- Which timestamped inventory, reservation, demand or offer event substantiates “Tickets moving quickly”, and what changes when its limit is reached?
- Record the claim, timestamp, data source and post-claim state; which evidence supports “It is temporally framed and connected to a transaction”?
- What happens when the stated limit is reached, and could the observed message be the legitimate case “static aggregate popularity claim”?
Complete pattern context
How this example relates to High-demand claim
A claim of unusually high current demand is used to accelerate a decision without a clear or supportable basis. The label describes a recurring design mechanism; whether a particular implementation is harmful or unlawful depends on the complete journey, audience, evidence and rules within scope.
The full guide explains inclusion and exclusion criteria, harms, fair design principles, evidence questions and the relevant EU legal information layers. The example page isolates one scenario so it can be shared and discussed without reproducing the complete library on one page.
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A fictional ticket seller displays “Seats held for 02:00” although no seats are reserved and the timer simply restarts after zero.
Sources and provenance for this example
Evidence base
Sources
- Dark commercial patternsOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development · Secondary · checked 2026-09-14 · OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 336
- Unfair Commercial Practices DirectiveEuropean Parliament and Council of the European Union · Primary · checked 2026-08-09 · Directive 2005/29/EC; CELEX 02005L0029-20220528