Last updated: April 5, 2026
This page lists known limitations in the current version of Dark Pattern Scanner. We publish these so you know what to expect and can work around them while we improve the extension.
On sites built with React, Vue, or similar frameworks (e.g., NordVPN pricing page, some SPAs), clicking Navigate may scroll to the wrong location or show "Location unclear." This happens because the framework destroys and recreates page elements after scanning. The finding itself is accurate — only the on-page navigation is affected. The v1.1 on-page overlay system will anchor highlights to live elements instead of cached positions.
Blog posts, UX articles, or educational pages that describe dark pattern examples will trigger findings because the text contains the same phrases the scanner detects on real sites. The scanner cannot distinguish between a page that uses dark patterns and a page that discusses them. This is a fundamental limitation of regex-based detection. The planned AI analysis layer in v2 will add contextual understanding.
On pages with heavy lazy loading (e.g., Temu search results), some dark pattern elements may not be present in the DOM at scan time. Rescanning after scrolling to load more content may find additional patterns. The "Scan Again" button is available for this purpose.
Patterns for introductory pricing (e.g., "for the first 3 months", "renews at $X") were recently added. While tested against known sites, edge cases may exist where legitimate one-time promotional language is flagged. Please report any false positives.