Algorithms to harvest, passengers become leeks: online car-hailing play big data "kill familiar" version 2.0
The exact same software and route, but the price of a taxi is different?
The timing and billing of online car-hailing is always inaccurate?
The actual price seems to be a little bit higher than the estimated price every time?
The Banyuetan reporter's survey found that consumers' doubts are true. Some online ride-hailing platforms are "overcharging three or five buckets", and they even do so...
Online ride-hailing "overcharges three or five buckets"?
You are right!
A follow-up investigation by reporters for half a month, combined with a comparative test conducted by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission on the metering situation of online car-hailing platforms, and the research results of Sun Jinyun's team at Fudan University found that many complaints made by consumers about online car-hailing turned out to be true. of.
Q: The same software and route, the price is different?
Is it discriminating against me?
Answer: Calling a taxi on your mobile phone is easy to "upgrade"!
Associate Professor Sun Jinyun of the School of Management of Fudan University led a team to conduct more than 800 ride-hailing tests in 5 cities in China and found that when users choose the one-key call "economical + comfortable" two gears, compared with non-iPhone mobile phone users, iPhone mobile phones Users are more likely to be ordered by more expensive and comfortable ride-hailing drivers, the ratio is three times that of non-iPhone mobile phone users.
The reporter of Banyue Tan used multiple mobile phones with different prices for multiple tests and found that using the "Didi Taxi" software to call express at the same place and the same time, the iPhone is faster than the cheaper Android phones. .
In the test, the reporter of Banyue Tan also found many times that using "Didi Dache" to call express and special cars at the same time and time at the same pick-up and drop-off location, iPhone users predicted that the price would be more expensive than Android phone users many times. , Although the difference is often concentrated within 0.5 yuan, but this problem appeared in 5 out of 12 tests.
In addition, the "Apple Tax" is also reflected in taxi-hailing discounts.
Research data from Sun Jinyun’s team shows that iPhone users can only get an average discount of 2.07 yuan, which is significantly lower than the 4.12 yuan for non-iPhone users.
Q: The timing and charging of online car-hailing is always inaccurate?
Answer: The probability of positive billing deviation is more than half, and some deviations are even close to 20%!
The results of a comparative test conducted by the Shanghai Consumer Insurance Commission on Shanghai’s online car-hailing platform’s metering and timekeeping showed that, in accordance with JJF1578-2016 "Technical Requirements for Online Taxi Metering and Timekeeping (Trial)", 10 mainstream online car-hailing After 11 rides on each platform, it was found that out of 110 trips, the positive deviation of the meter was as high as 57 times, and the positive deviation of the timing was 40 times.
The Banyuetan reporter and experts from the Shanghai Institute of Metrology and Testing Technology discovered on the spot that the positive deviations of the meter timing of some online car-hailing platforms are quite large.
For example, at noon on weekdays, starting from the DBS Bank Building in Lujiazui, Shanghai, passing through the Yan'an Road tunnel to the Bund area, and then returning from the Renmin Road tunnel to Pudong Lujiazui, the "Shouqi Car-hailing" platform charges consumers based on the route The mileage is 10.22 kilometers, the actual mileage obtained by using the standard device is 8.552 kilometers, and the calculation error is as high as 19.5%.
Q: Is the actual price a bit more expensive than the estimated price every time?
Answer: Some platforms are more than a bit poor.
Sun Jinyun introduced that by analyzing the difference between the estimated price of the software and the actual price paid, it was found that, taking Shanghai as an example, the difference between the actual paid price and the estimated price of Didi Dache was the largest, reaching 18.5%. Followed by "Meituan Taxi", which was 9.7% higher, and "Shouqi Taxi" ranked third with 7.6%.
"Algorithm harvesting", very good!
On-site investigation by Banyuetan reporters found that online car-hailing billing is chaotic, behind the harsh and complicated regulations and the "algorithm harvesting" consumers with upgraded routines.
——Some platforms have strict timing regulations, and there are many billing regulations.
According to Yang Qing, a staff member of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Committee, the timing deviation is mainly reflected in the calculation method of the platform.
In the survey, it was found that some platforms will count as 1 minute as long as 1 second is reached, so that the deviation is as high as 59 seconds, which is not good for consumers.
"At the same time, the billing rules of some platforms are extremely complex. They are not only divided into morning peak, evening peak, night and other periods, but also complex billing methods for each period. The calculation method involving trips that span two different periods is more complicated. , Far from being able to be understood by ordinary consumers."
-"Algorithm harvesting" brings huge loss of profits to consumers.
In 110 comparison experiments, experts noticed that with some algorithms that have obvious advantages on the head platform, the probability of error exceeding the standard allowed is very low, and the probability of positive deviation is very high, but most of them fall within the allowable error range. specialty.
"From the perspective of probability, the probability of positive and negative deviations is equal. If a platform has obvious positive deviations, it is inseparable from the algorithms and charging methods used by the company." Yang Qing said, In the interview and communication with a certain platform, the platform pushed the occurrence of high-frequency small positive deviations to "system instability", but this statement is obviously unreasonable. After the platform has undergone a so-called system upgrade, it will be carried out again. The test still exists in this situation.
Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission, pointed out that in recent times, big data "killing familiarity" routines are constantly being upgraded. Starting from version 1.0 of "acquainted customers sell at high prices", the platform takes advantage of the comprehensive collection of consumer personal information. , Upgrade to version 2.0 based on the full grasp of personal information by the platform "killing familiarity".
"This kind of product matching and price discrimination based on discriminatory algorithms is essentially a platform's abuse of algorithm power and an infringement of consumers' right to fair transactions."
Be wary of "algorithmic harvesting" running ahead of the market
According to data from the Shanghai Consumer Insurance Commission, Shanghai will accept a total of 586 online car-hailing complaints in 2020, of which a quarter are related to billing disputes.
In response to this, Ning Hai, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission, suggested that relevant regulatory authorities should enhance their subjective initiative, urge online car-hailing platforms to perform the main responsibility of metering, regularly calibrate the system, and promote industry-related standards and procedures. Revise and optimize, realize the self-purification and self-discipline of the industry, and avoid improper infringement on the interests of consumers.
Sun Jinyun believes that consumers should improve their ability to choose and question big data algorithms.
"For example, when you take a taxi, you can choose to hire a taxi, switch to using taxi software, etc., to make consumer behavior more random, increase the cost of the algorithm for a single user, and prevent consumers from being labeled more algorithmically."
Chu Tianjiao, director of the Urban Modernization Research Center of China Pudong Leadership Academy, suggested that Internet platform-based companies with big data regularly publish digital social responsibility reports, disclose them to the public, and accept social supervision.
If there is a problem, the supervisory authority shall make an interview in accordance with the law and require timely rectification.
Source: "Ban Yue Tan" Issue 8, 2021
Half a month to talk about reporters: Zhou Rui, Wu Zhendong, Lan Tianming