I recently came across a great article that Aliona Kyrychenko wrote on the UX Collective. In the article, she went over some things that many companies or sites try to do to influence the numbers in favor of the business over the needs and best interests of the user.
She defines Dark Patterns as:
Dark Patterns is a deception technique in interface design, that intentionally tricks users into things they didn’t want to do. We as designers have a responsibility towards users to provide meaningful and relevant experiences. Designing with Dark Patterns is practically a UX crime. Basically, Dark Patterns exploit Jacob’s Law
Aliona Kyrychenko
You can read her full article with some great examples here.
