History Listory

2022

2022-01-01 (context, because dynamic pricing is fueled by AI) Dynamic (or ‘surge’) pricing worsened in 2022, affecting things like airline prices, groceries, travel expenses and ticket prices. The basis of dynamic pricing is to use algorithms to determine the maximum amount of money people are willing to pay for a service or good and exploit that data with the intent of squeezing every available dollar out of every working citizen. The dynamic pricing crisis expanded to digital price-tags and markups, removal of price tags altogether, and price surging at certain times of the day or week. The Iran war, Trump’s tariffs, and emerging “K” economy of 2026 may have exacerbated it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/17/iran-war-oil-price-surge-worsen-k-shaped-economy-say-economists.html

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2026/01/05/the-new-normal-preparing-now-for-continuous-dynamic-pricing/

https://www.fastcompany.com/91451686/dynamic-pricing-becoming-the-rule-not-the-exception

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/03/business/dynamic-surge-pricing-nightcap.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/opinion/dynamic-pricing-algorithms.html

https://www.fastcompany.com/91451686/dynamic-pricing-becoming-the-rule-not-the-exception

https://www.morningbrew.com/stories/2023/05/31/the-price-is-wrong

https://www.branchspace.com/news/airline-dynamic-pricing-ladders

2025 December

2025-12-10 News outlets reported that Instacart and other online shopping tools were experimenting with AI pricing and charging different customers different prices for the same exact items from the same exact storefronts. The investigation material was provided by Groundwork Collaborative.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-lifestyle/instacarts-ai-pricing-experiment-drives-up-costs-some-shoppers-study-says.amp

https://groundworkcollaborative.org/news/new-report-exposes-instacarts-hidden-price-games/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/grocery/2025/12/10/instacart-pricing-investigation-target-safeway/87701184007/

https://www.investopedia.com/instacart-was-charging-wildly-diverging-prices-for-different-shoppers-an-investigation-found-so-i-checked-my-costco-orders-11866778

2026 April

2026-04-29 Maryland was the first State to ban dynamic pricing in grocery stores. Dynamic pricing is when companies use AI to charge consumers different prices based on their data, so one customer might pay more for the same product as another customer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITROfCXUIWM&list=WL&index=3

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/29/maryland-grocery-stores-ban-surveillance-pricing

https://www.multistate.us/insider/2026/4/30/maryland-becomes-first-state-to-ban-surveillance-pricing-on-some-food-products