>"The X people looking at this is something hotels.com and such do as well - mind you it's probably one of the many dark patterns that sites like that employ to

>"The X people looking at this is something hotels.com and such do as well - mind you it's probably one of the many dark patterns that sites like that employ to create fake scarcity / popularity, similar to "x people booked in the last y hours" or "only x seats / rooms left at this price" I have started to refuse to use sites that employ this "high pressure" nonsense such as booking.com/hotels.com. Even if you could trust this information who cares how many people are currently looking or have booked a hotel room in the last day? It makes for a really sleazy feeling experience and and a visual nightmare. It's like a virtual used car salesman. Would you shop at a store that insisted on annoying you with such "pressure tactics" while you trying to buy food or clothes? Vote with your wallet if possible.