Ever end up on a mailing list that you don’t remember signing up for? Yeah, everyone else too. In many cases it happens when we make a purchase and end up on their promotional mailing list, but what about when you do opt-in?
Sometimes websites are designed in a way to make you believe you’re opting into one thing, while secretly opting you into something else.
Let’s examine the madness of pre-ordering the latest model of Apple’s iPhone. “Oh, it’s not available yet AT&T? But I can be “first in line” by entering my email? Sure, sign me up… wait!”
If you take a closer look, you can see that the form field is actually signing you up for AT&T’s “latest news” and not just notifying you when the new iPhone’s pre-order sale begins as the huge image that takes up the rest of the screen would suggest.
But why? Why not make you think it’s what you want when it’s actually what they want – more subscribers!
My Two Cents
The sign up should at the very least be exclusive to the iPhone pre-sale with the option to also opt-in to the “latest news” newsletter, but that second option should not be selected by default.
PS – I cropped the image so my location and name weren’t visible, but I was logged in at this time, so AT&T already knew my email address!!