They're annoying clutter, but I don't think it falls under "dark pattern" because you can ignore it, there's no requirement to interact with it. Dark patterns guide you down a path you don't need to go.
This particular one on the Author Clock site is from monto.io > social-proof.
Fwiw, this is a fairly common way to increase sales, as a kind of social proof, and to say “wow stock sure is dropping fast!” I understand it can be annoying though, as a user I’m not fond of it either.
It completely turns me off from anywhere that sells it. I'm an annoying Ocarina fan, and the two largest Ocarina manufacturers in North America do this. I haven't bought one from either of them in years because of it.
It is gross in general, but it's especially offputting on a product that is otherwise sorta likable and cute. Like it's one thing if a hotel website does it because you expect them to be scummy anyway (not ideal but that's how it is). But this site could have easily not seemed scummy just by removing the greedy stuff.
Here in Chile almost every single site does that. Wanted to tap on a link in the lower part of the screen? Haha no dice, it just got covered with a popup that says Miguel from Chillán bought a video card five hours ago. Absolutely infuriating.
