Hopper, the travel app known for its AI-driven flight and hotel price predictions, has agreed to a $35 million settlement following a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The lawsuit accused the company of misleading users by imposing hidden fees and misrepresenting the total costs of Hopper’s services.
The case is another example of regulators targeting the use of “dark patterns,” or interface designs that manipulate users into making choices they might not otherwise have made, including those that hide charges, pre-select optional add-ons, or make it difficult to understand the true cost of a service. It follows similar FTC settlements aimed at other companies, like Match, StubHub, neobank Dave, Fortnite, and others.
