this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2024
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Picture this (feddit.org)
submitted 4 days ago by 101@feddit.org to c/microblogmemes@lemmy.world
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post textPicture this:

  1. You type on Google "laptop won't turn on"
  2. Google now knows you have a broken laptop and can estimate how desperate you are to fix it.
  3. Because it knows how desperate you are, it can increase shop prices proportionally.

You are going to pay the maximum they get you to pay.

That's algorithmic pricing.

The more companies know about you, the more they can predict and sell how desperate you are to other stores out there.

An internet-connected car knows much more about you than you realize. A smart TV also knows what you like. Your Alexa knows if there is a problem in the home.

Privacy is much more than just sensitive data.

It's about not giving leverage away.

Because algorithms will use it against you.

Be safe out there.

Nostr.

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[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This is only a problem if the service provider is a monopoly (or if every service provider illegally coordinates price fixing).

I might be willing to pay up to $800 to fix a $1000 computer (a more expensive repair might cause me to look to buy a replacement rather than repairing). But if it's a 1 hour job requiring $100 of parts, then all the computer repair shops would be competing with each other for my business, essentially setting their hourly rate for their labor. At that point it's like bidding at auction up to a certain point, but expecting to still pay the lowest available price.

So the problem isn't necessarily perfect pricing information from the other side, but lack of competition for pricing from the other side. We should be fighting to break up monopolies and punishing illegal price fixing.

[–] RecallMadness@lemmy.nz 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

You don’t need a monopoly for this to be a problem.

Databrokers can offer data sets of “customer price elasticity”. Tables of “how much we think X would spend on these generic item categories”. Eg “booly would pay $15 for a burger, vs $10 average”

Point of Sale systems could start offering integrations to these data sets.

All shops have to do now is set a list price, a minimum price, a category, and leave it up to the PoS to (not) give discounts.

You want a burger, you’re fed a single-use short lived discount “$5 off a $20 burger. Today only” While someone else gets “buy one get one free”.

It’s then a ‘fair’ market. Shops have and ‘compete’ with their (high) list prices, data brokers compete with “excess profit” statistics (ie, how much more money above the minimum price they made). Nobody is colluding, they’re just basing discounts off external arbitrary signals.

It slowly becomes the norm to get just-in-time discounts, and the consumer gets shafted. If you’re not in the system, you’re paying more than everyone else.

(And all of this has been happening in some markets for over a decade)

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[–] MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Is there evidence previous search-based algorithmic pricing is being used?

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[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I agree with the broad premise that your information has value, but I wouldn't worry about Google increasing prices just for you. Companies still control their own websites and they aren't going to allow another company to change what they change directly.

What Google sells is the ability for a company to get their website in front of your eyes. They sell the top spaces in your search results. A company who doesn't pay Google gets pushed to page two.vor three. Now in a sense that increases your prices because the cost of the companies increased ad budgets is passed on to you.

[–] thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca 10 points 4 days ago (2 children)

You don't think companies would opt into letting Google manage "dynamic pricing" for them on a per-user basis? Travel sites already offer this for airlines after you signal intent, such as a destination and date range... And sellers on Amazon already use tools like Sellery to algorithmically reprice items without human supervision. Some products change price hundreds of times per day as a result.

Big retailers like Walmart are trying to make "personalized pricing" work, which tries to anticipate price tolerance based on past shopping behavior on an individual basis.

So it's not a stretch at all IMO to imagine Google offering a "personalized pricing" service that you can install on any website, right under the script tag for Google Analytics. Or Amazon, or Walmart, or whoever-- They all have mountains of data on us.

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[–] abysmalpoptart@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (6 children)

I don't know how accurate this is. Every time i try googling this, i get multiple help forums (brand website, Microsoft help, reddit discussions) for how to troubleshoot, with no ads for new laptops. While i typically provide a more specific search (e.g. my laptop brand and model won't boot), i tried googling "my laptop won't turn on" and received similar, albeit less specific, suggestions.

I wonder if the original poster often searches for laptop prices to find deals and maybe it defaulted to that?

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