The company misleadingly advertised time-limited promotions and discounts, including through the use of a “countdown timer”.

The Italian Competition Authority has imposed a 2 million euro fine on Deghi S.p.A. for engaging in an unfair commercial practice. The Authority found that between January 2024 and the end of December 2025, the company repeatedly used a “countdown timer” to advertise time-limited discounts which, once expired, were renewed under the same pricing conditions with a new “timer”. In doing so, Deghi misleadingly presented the prices and discounts of many products advertised as being “on promotion” on its website https://www.deghi.it/.

The practice is particularly insidious, as it is based on a manipulation technique known as a “dark pattern”: it imposes a fake time limit on promotional product offers in order to pressure consumers to make a purchase, thereby exploiting the so-called “scarcity heuristic”.

Rome, 25 June 2026

Text of the decision