'Dishonest Search Disruption': Taking Deceptive-Pricing Tactics Seriously

Abstract

Concerns about fictitious pricing and bait-and-switch practices, once commonplace, have been relegated to the regulatory attic for far too long. The singular theme that undergirds these tactics, “dishonest” search disruption, highlights a broader concern about how these tactics disrupt markets by leading consumers to make suboptimal transactional decisions. If treated collectively, regulators may find reason to take these deceptive tactics seriously. Addressing “dishonest search disruption” as a distinct phenomenon may ultimately frame a way for regulators to bring enforcement down from the attic and back into the active enforcement arena.

Keywords: consumer, consumer law, advertising, advertising law, FTC, pricing