Business
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We Filed a Trademark. Then the Scammers Came — by Email and Text, Within Days.
USA Times filed a design-mark application on a Thursday night. By Monday, a fake USPTO “verification appointment” had arrived twice — from a non-government email and a random 571 number — citing our real serial number and threatening “abandonment.” It’s a scam the USPTO is warning about right now. Here’s how it works.
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How Five Major Outlets Cover the Sitting President, in One Sentiment Comparison
USA Times’ Data Desk compares automated headline-sentiment scores across CNN, Fox News, Forbes, Washington Post and NPR — plus how each outlet’s tone shifts across presidential administrations.
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We Audited 30 NYC Restaurants’ Delivery Prices Against the Counter. Here’s Every Markup.
USA Times compared menu prices at 30 NYC-area restaurants against their Uber Eats and DoorDash storefronts. Average markup: 10.3%. Full sortable data inside.
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The Rider Sees $350. Drivers Say They Get $47. Inside Lyft’s Vanishing Fare.
· Português It was a 57-mile ride to Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport, and the price on the screen was staggering. Standard “Extra Comfort” ran $350. The XL was $640. The XXL, $660. Stamped across the top, without irony, was a coupon: “You’re saving 50%, up to $9. Nice.” The rider, who posted the screenshot to…
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Uber and Lyft Now Keep Roughly a Quarter of Every New York Fare — But Not the Way You’ve Heard
New York’s trip-by-trip records show Uber and Lyft’s cut tripled since 2019 to ~23–24%. But the “50–80% take” claim? True on about one ride in thirty — we tested it against 20 million rides.
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New York Makes Apps Confess When an Algorithm Priced You. We Caught DoorDash Disclosing It — and Found the Carve-Out That Shields Uber and Lyft
Since Nov. 10, 2025, New York requires apps to state “this price was set by an algorithm using your personal data.” We found DoorDash disclosing it — and a carve-out that leaves Uber and Lyft ride fares largely untouched.
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New York Says Uber Eats and DoorDash Used ‘Design Tricks’ to Cut Delivery Workers’ Tips by $554 Million
A city report found the two apps buried the tip prompt — and tips cratered to $0.76 a delivery while rivals held at $2.17. It’s the worker-side mirror of the delivery economics we’ve been documenting.
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The FTC Is Finally Moving on Hidden Delivery-App Fees — and Our Own NYC Audit Shows Exactly What It’s Looking For
The FTC opened a nationwide rulemaking on deceptive food- and grocery-delivery fees. USA Times spent months pricing the same food on the apps and at the counter — here’s what we found.
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Surveillance Pricing, Explained: When the Price Is Built Around You
The price on your screen may no longer be a fact about the product — it may be a fact about you. A plain-English guide to surveillance pricing, what the FTC and Consumer Reports found, and the New York law that forces some companies to disclose it.
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Why Uber Eats Won’t Put It in One Number
You pay three charges on every Uber Eats order — a delivery fee, a service fee, and a markup on the food you never see. Two of the three are Uber’s cut for the same thing: being the middleman. Here’s why Uber won’t just put it in one honest number.