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VOICE ARCHIVE

Lindsay Owens

@owenslindsay1
12 posts
2026-01-12
Big/bad news for consumers. Google is out today with an announcement of how they plan to integrate shopping into their AI offerings including search and Gemini. The plan includes “personalized upselling.” I.e. Analyzing your chat data and using it to overcharge you. 1/2 [image]
2026-01-12 View on X
Financial Times

Google introduces new personalized ads in its Gemini-powered AI Mode, letting advertisers offer exclusives for users preparing to buy a product

Tech giant moves to gain an edge in race to monetise popular AI tools  —  Google is introducing new personalised advertising …

They'll be working with some of the biggest names in retail to swap data & train their algorithm into a price gouging behemoth. Companies like Lowe's, Michael's, and Reebok have already signed on to the pilot. Fasten your seatbelts for the next phase of surveillance pricing. 2/2 [image]
2026-01-12 View on X
TechCrunch

Google unveils the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents work across customer buying processes, from discovery to support

Google today announced a new open standard, called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) for AI agent-based shopping, at the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference.

Big/bad news for consumers. Google is out today with an announcement of how they plan to integrate shopping into their AI offerings including search and Gemini. The plan includes “personalized upselling.” I.e. Analyzing your chat data and using it to overcharge you. 1/2 [image]
2026-01-12 View on X
TechCrunch

Google unveils the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents work across customer buying processes, from discovery to support

Google today announced a new open standard, called the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) for AI agent-based shopping, at the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference.

2025-12-18
Even the Trump FTC knows a layup when they see one. So incredibly proud of the investigative work of the teams at @Groundwork @ConsumerReports and @MorePerfectUS. It's time for Instacart to close the lab. https://www.reuters.com/...
2025-12-18 View on X
Reuters

Sources: the US FTC is investigating Instacart's AI pricing tool, after a study showed different prices for the same items at the same stores; CART drops 8%+

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is probing Instacart (CART.O), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters …

2025-12-10
@Groundwork ... We are in the midst of the largest grocery affordability crisis in a generation. Instacart's pricing tricks are making it worse. So why is this happening? I talked to @bencasselman in the @nytimes about how when it comes to pricing, the ground has shifted under our feet. 4/9
2025-12-10 View on X
New York Times

Study: 193 Instacart users across four US cities saw different prices for the same items from the same store at the same time; Instacart says it's running tests

The findings are the latest example of how the notion of a single price is breaking down in the digital age, a trend economists say could be pushing up some prices.

Right now, Instacart is quietly running experiments on millions of us while we shop for groceries online. They are trying to figure out exactly how much they can get away with charging you for breakfast cereal, lunch meat, pasta, and everything in between. How do I know? 1/9 [image]
2025-12-10 View on X
New York Times

Study: 193 Instacart users across four US cities saw different prices for the same items from the same store at the same time; Instacart says it's running tests

The findings are the latest example of how the notion of a single price is breaking down in the digital age, a trend economists say could be pushing up some prices.

@Groundwork ... Instacart even recently acquired an AI company called Eversight to get better technology to run these experiments on you-and even admits in their marketing materials that one of the biggest benefits of this technology is that you won't notice it. 7/9
2025-12-10 View on X
New York Times

Study: 193 Instacart users across four US cities saw different prices for the same items from the same store at the same time; Instacart says it's running tests

The findings are the latest example of how the notion of a single price is breaking down in the digital age, a trend economists say could be pushing up some prices.

@Groundwork ... Instacart charged shoppers different prices for about 75% of the items in the basket-sometimes they charged as much as 23% more for the exact same item. Using Instacart's own estimates, we find that the Instacart tax could cost households as much as $1200 a year. 3/9
2025-12-10 View on X
New York Times

Study: 193 Instacart users across four US cities saw different prices for the same items from the same store at the same time; Instacart says it's running tests

The findings are the latest example of how the notion of a single price is breaking down in the digital age, a trend economists say could be pushing up some prices.

@Groundwork ... Companies no longer price according to how much it cost THEM to make something. Instead, they price based on what YOU are willing to pay. An army of pricing advisers-a cross between the Geek Squad & Seal Team Six-is helping them to execute these high-tech pricing experiments. 6/9
2025-12-10 View on X
New York Times

Study: 193 Instacart users across four US cities saw different prices for the same items from the same store at the same time; Instacart says it's running tests

The findings are the latest example of how the notion of a single price is breaking down in the digital age, a trend economists say could be pushing up some prices.

2024-07-24
Today the @linakhanFTC & @FTC launched an inquiry into personalized pricing, the latest frontier in price gouging. A personalized price might sound nice, but it is actually a 3-part corporate strategy to spy on you, isolate you, & overcharge you. A 🧵1/6 https://www.ftc.gov/...
2024-07-24 View on X
The Record

The US FTC seeks info from Mastercard, Accenture, and six other companies related to their “surveillance pricing products” that use personal data, AI, and more

2024-07-13
All across the country landlords are quietly logging into price fixing software and with the click of a button, colluding to jack up the rent they charge their tenants. It's disgusting and it's illegal. @JusticeATR is going to put a stop to it once and for all.
2024-07-13 View on X
Politico

Sources: the US DOJ plans to sue RealPage by the end of the summer, accusing the company of selling software that allows landlords to collude on setting rents

Josh Sisco / Politico :

2022-10-17
🧵Want to know why rents have been skyrocketing? This jaw dropping @propublica investigation has one answer—collusion. @RealPage's YieldStar proprietary software is helping the nation's biggest landlords and property managers jack up prices together. 1/10 https://www.propublica.org/...
2022-10-17 View on X
ProPublica

Many big US property managers use RealPage's YieldStar software to set rent prices, raising questions about potential collusion in violation of federal law

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.