Washington Post notifies subscribers their rates are set to increase, explaining the price rise“was set by an algorithm using your personal data.” washingtonian.com/2026/03/12/t…
in reply to Matt Blaze

@mattblaze Sooo, if I have a hot dog stand without a posted price list and Bezos orders one with onions, can I charge him $10,000,000.00 ?
Then sue when he balks? I already handed it to him, I can't sell it to anyone else. It's a fair price based on his data.

reshared this

in reply to Matt Blaze

@mattblaze
In fairness, casinos *do* charge based on user data, but usually in the other direction. The richest gamblers (or, rather, the ones who gamble the most money) get everything for free, rather than having their prices hiked

Also, there's a group of extremely wealthy people who meet once a month at the Four Seasons (admission to the group is based on liquid net worth) and their room rate is *much* lower than rack rate

The super rich are rarely victims of predatory pricing

in reply to Steve Herman

Sensitive content

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to Steve Herman

People responding to this need to step back with their snark and ask, "What data does WaPo have about their readers and how did they obtain it?" Is it basic stuff, like "let's charge subscribers in Bethesda more because they can afford it" or have they gone full evil with "we matched up your WaPo and Amazon accounts, and, hoo boy, we're gonna charge you up the whazoo"?

Doc Chaotic 🇺🇦🖖 reshared this.

in reply to Roadskater, Ph.D.

@roadskater Another question occurs to me. Are they completely oblivious to the reaction of their soon to be former subscribers or are they counting on it? Is it designed to produce conditions that business bosses will use to justify eliminating more "division of church and state" in newsrooms? Is it a cunning maneuver or just arrogant stupidity on Bezos' part? Data abuse is the larger concern, but his predatory strategies are not insignificant. Others will duplicate his actions.
in reply to Steve Herman

So, billionaires can charge people according to what they're able to pay for a propaganda newspaper, but the tax code can't do the same to billionaires?

#USPol #TaxTheRich #WaPo #Bezos #IRS #TaxFairness #EatTheRich #TaxTheBillionaires #USFederalBudget

reshared this