Online consumers at risk from ‘intelligent’ price manipulation: Oxford and Imperial experts

Widespread use of intelligent algorithmics and dynamic pricing by online retailers, puts the public at risk of ‘adversarial collusion’, maintains Dr Luc Rocher, lead author of the paper, ‘Adversarial Competition and Collusion in Algorithmic Markets’. Facilitated by digital technologies, retailers now compete globally on these platforms. Professor Yves-Alexandre de MontjoyeProfessor de Montjoye, senior author, adds, ‘Adversarial collusion raises new regulatory and enforcement questions. Our results emphasise the need for regulatory agencies in the UK, US, and European Union to consider how adversarial algorithmic pricing mechanisms could subtly undermine the competitiveness of online markets and harm consumers. The full article, ‘Adversarial Competition and Collusion in Algorithmic Markets’, Luc Rocher, Arnaud J. Tournier and Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye, is published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.