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Comment by axaxs | Hacker News Reader

Ugh. This reminds me of the USPS address change scam. Just type "change address" into Google and see how many Ad results for this are thrown in top of your search results. They are all semi official looking, and charge you. I'm ashamed to admit I fell victim to one of these after a very long day of moving and a few beers years back. The USPS offers this for $1(not free, thanks ebg13)! I blame myself, but do wonder why Google allows and even promotes these sites...

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Oh, it doesn't only cost you $1. It also costs you at minimum a years worth of free spam mail from various "You're moving! Here's a bunch of discount coupons for things you don't need" that USPS sells your new address to.

I thought you could opt out of that without cost when you change the address? I always remember that being an option.

I imagine there is some kind of confusing opt-out dark design, but as someone who instinctively always opts-out every time, and who is usually not tricked by UIs, I still found myself inundated with unwanted spam mail.

Of course, the only honest tactic would be an opt-in, but that would destroy the revenue the feature makes...

> Of course, the only honest tactic would be an opt-in, but that would destroy the revenue the feature makes...

This would destroy a lot of companies..

This does beg the question, if your company relies on dark patterns to get people to sign up for your service to survive, why should it be allowed to continue to operate? Seems to me like the market is speaking

Killing those companies is the point. You may as well object that bug spray is bad because it kills cockroaches.

I usually get modded down for this, but that's why I insist MailChimp, etc. is a spammer. Most of what they send the recipient never explicitly asked for. Anybody who sends out more automated mail than they have incoming transactions is spamming. Any email that doesn't reference the exact transaction that authorized it is spam.

Yes, many companies are built on dark patterns and could not exist honestly.

https://www.darkpatterns.org/

There was an opt-out and multiple pages worth of confusing "opt-in" options selected by default. I painstakingly went through and skipped/declined all of them. But I'm still receiving my "moving gifts".

I actually kind of like those mailers, it's how I got all my magic erasers and swiffer pad refills.

It's the American way to encumber basic government functions with commercial activity in the name of "efficiency" or cost savings.

I disapprove of it.

Did you actually look at those coupons? I got 10% off Amazon (up to $200 savings over 90 days which is reasonable to achieve) and 10% off Home Depot (up to $100 saving).

A lot of people can benefit from that Amazon discount regardless of a recent move. Plus Home Depot is super helpful if you moved into a house. There's always something that needs work.

When I was renovating my home, I used to “move” to my current address to get those coupons. Lowe’s used to take those coupons on top of their 5% discount.

Yeah a lot those coupons you get when you file a change of address form are really good coupons. I've never had to pay for them or used any that turned out to be scams.

"I blame myself, but do wonder why Google allows and even promotes these sites..."

Because they pay Google and aren't actually illegal.

A better question is why Google puts ads at the top of search results.

> A better question is why Google puts ads at the top of search results.

You know the answer...

Because they pay Google and isn't illegal either.

I wonder why it's not illegal to impersonate a public service or department

Because we click on them and it maximizes Google's revenue.

> The USPS offers this for $1(not free, thanks ebg13)!

$0 if done in person.

That's very interesting. I had no idea they were now charging $1.05 to file a change of address on line.

I suspect they implemented the fee since people as above are filing change of address forms from Address A to Address A just to get coupons mailed to them and the $1.05 covers the cost of mailing the coupons. It also, requiring a credit card, provides for a measure of identity verification and reduces fraud associated with fake address change filings.

> We use your email address to send your transaction confirmation or send a one-time reminder email if you do not successfully complete your transaction.

Ah, so it's not true, as was claimed above, that the USPS form gives your email to the companies so they can spam you.

> The USPS offers this for free

$1 if done online.

Thanks, edited. I was wondering when I wrote that 'why would I have got my credit card out'...now it makes sense as I remember having used that service in the past.

To be quite frank I’m happy google doesn’t ban websites outright if it determines the service isn’t useful. There are already enough things google censors without merit, I could only imagine they’d abuse this too

Make sure to mash that "SERP Feedback" button when the result for your search isn't the appropriate/official result.

Google doesn't do a damn thing about the feedback.

Every time I search for my bank's routing number, the first result that pops up is a fishy looking 3rd party website. The numbers are accurate (for now?), but it's super sketchy. My bank's results are three or four slots down the list.

I keep complaining and Google does nothing. It may just as well be an elevator "close door" button.

I recommend you only obtain routing numbers from within your bank's mobile app or website. Can't speak for all banks, but Chase, Fidelity, and Schwab all list your routing and account numbers prominently when logged in (and some financial institutions have different routing numbers depending on your use case, a wire vs a direct deposit for example).

To your point about Google feedback, sadness, but unsurprising.

If you have physical checks, it's printed directly on the check on the bottom.

That routing number isn't always the correct one for a wire transfer. So make sure you find out from your bank which number to use for the given use case.

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