Dark Pattern: Opt-in above the fold, but opt-out below the fold

One of my colleagues reminded me of a

Dark Pattern
employed by the installer for the

media player for that internet protocol that got the rug pulled
out from under it.

When you got to the shovelware portion of the installer,
it showed you this:

We have partnered with other companies to bring you these
valuable offers.
Select the ones you wish to install.

	LitWare Deluxe Trial Edition
	By LitWare, Inc.

	ProseWare Search Toolbar
	By ProseWare, Inc.

	Toy Shopping Toolbar
	By TailSpin Toys

 

 

Next

You see that everything is unchecked, so you click Next.

You have fallen into the trap.

Look at that scroll bar on the right hand side.
It's scrolled only partway through the list.
And if you had scrolled down the list, you would have seen this:

We have partnered with other companies to bring you these
valuable offers.
Select the ones you wish to install.

	Toy Shopping Toolbar
	By TailSpin Toys

	Fabrikam Ad Network
	By Fabrikam, Inc.

	Web Speed Boost
	By Trey Research, Inc.

 

 

 

Next

That's right.
All the items you could see without scrolling
were unchecked by default,
but everything else was
checked by default.

As my colleague noted,
"This may be one of the few times where it cost more to be placed
below the fold."

Bonus reading:
One of the pieces of bundled software was

an app that wants to crash.