Internet

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Getting So Many Search Results Makes Shopping Harder

Have you ever noticed how bad some retailers’ online search results are? You are searching for a pretty specific thing, but the search results you get show you tons of irrelevant products. Other sites provide you with exactly what you were searching for, but display so many results that you could never review all of them.

For example, having just bought a blood pressure monitor from Amazon, MrConsumer decided to check Wayfair during their Way Day sale. So he entered “blood pressure monitor” in quotes in their search field.

Look at the results.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Wayfair search results

It spit back a 200-page list containing 9,868 results! How many were actually blood pressure monitors? It appears to be four! And when I double-checked to see if they had the brand I bought, Omron… I got 45,861 results only one of which appeared to be an Omron brand product!

More recently, Wayfair improved. Now searching for “blood pressure monitor” provides “only” 4,410 results, 10 of which were actually those devices.

By comparison, Target provided 59 results, all of which were blood pressure monitors.

Amazon and Walmart had a different problem. Amazon offered about 450 relevant results. And Walmart provided about 1,250 results, virtually all of which were blood pressure monitors. How can any human deal with whittling down so many choices?

The abundance of relevant search results at Walmart is even prevalent when searching for grocery items making shopping online far more difficult.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Walmart Search Results

This whole concept of having too many choices has a name – the paradox of choice.

It is hard to say which is worse — too many irrelevant search results or too many relevant ones. What do you thnk and what has been your search and shopping experience?

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Presidential Election Campaign Fund Pays for Medical Research Too

A funny thing happened when Ken E. was filing his taxes using H&R Block software. When he got to the screen asking if he would like to give $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, he clicked the “learn more” link and got an unexpected explanation in the fine print.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Election finance

Say what?

Apparently in 2014, Congress decided to no longer allow political parties to use taxpayer money from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to finance their party conventions. Instead, it redirected that money to the “10-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund” designed to fund projects related to childhood diseases. The law was named after Gabriella Miller, who, while battling a rare form of brain cancer herself, helped raise money to fund pediatric cancer research. She died at age 10.

Our consumer said, “Even in my wildest dreams I would not have connected giving to the campaign fund to mean that I am donating to pediatric medical research.”

For once, the fine print revealed a great positive surprise.

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Metro’s $20 Home Internet Has No Catches?

Metro by T-Mobile is a prepaid cell service provider (formerly Metro PCS) that also offers 5G home internet. In this commercial that began running last month, they promise an unbelievable deal — only $20 a month for internet service. And they say there are no catches and no “exploding bills.”



Click arrow to play commercial

No catches? Really?

*MOUSE PRINT:

Metro fine print

In order to get the $20 internet service you have to (1) qualify for the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), (2) buy a monthly cell phone plan from Metro, (3) pay $25 the first month not $20, (4) sign up for autopay, and (5) be able to access the 5G service which is only available in certain cities/areas.

The federal program provides a $30 a month discount to those with households whose income is no more than 200% of the federal poverty level or if at least one person is on Medicaid, Section 8, or one of several other social welfare programs. Metro’s advertised $20 monthly rate already reflects that $30 discount.

On top of all that, this federal program is winding down this week and will no longer accept applications after February 7, 2024! The money for existing enrollees is expected to run out by May. And then, contrary to the Metro’s promise of “no exploding bills,” subscribers’ monthly bills will likely more than double.

Despite the FCC’s January 11 announcement of the end of the ACP program, Metro continued to run the commercials for their $20 internet service at least through January 26.

We asked Metro’s PR folks if it was fair to orally advertise “no catches” (1) when there were so many qualifications only disclosed in fine print, and (2) when the vast majority of viewers will not be eligible for the advertised price. The company responded in relevant part:

We are in the process of replacing this ad prior to the last day of sign ups. {A] key goal of this campaign [is] … to help educate millions of Americans … about a more affordable, flexible option for home internet. Of course, all the advertising always noted that ACP was eligible for “qualifying customers” in larger font.

I’m sorry, the net impression created by that ad is that Metro itself is offering $20 internet with no strings attached. The requirement of first needing to be approved for a federal program is anything but clearly disclosed (and certainly not in large type). It’s great if a company wants to promote a federal program to help lower income people with their bills, but just come out and say that’s what it really is.

In our view, then, this ad is extremely misleading as presented. We’ve asked the National Advertising Division (NAD) of Better Business Bureau National Programs to review the case.

What do you think of advertising like this?