We need an objective way to tell which things are manipulative. And to whom. Also, ads are manipulative too (for many people), but do they belong to the same category?
The "manipulative" here refers to the UI actively or passively lying to you, and slightly nudging you towards doing something you do not want.
Ads, or the way ads are presented can be manipulative too - e.g. articles which pose as informative, but in fact are written just to push a certain product. But if the ads are presented overtly, they are not manipulative in the sense that is discussed here.
I would favor “anti-user”, “user-exploitative”, or just “deceptive”.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with something that’s “pro-business”, and in fact I see “user-centric” or “user-driven” as being good business. “Pro-business” is bad when it comes at the cost of the user/customer/employee/etc.
