Skimlinks on Talk

I know people moan about change. But honestly MNHQ these links are really annoying. I just clicked on one thinking it would provide more info about what a poster was talking about (have you seen this urban dictionary entry, or something) and it linked to a book on Amazon instead. It was not at all obvious the poster had not linked themselves.

I think the links are tacky and ugly, but I can live with that - it's when they waste my time I get annoyed.

Just typed in Sainsbury's on another thread and it converted to a link.

This can't be easy for readers with dyslexia. Different colour fonts changing mid sentence is quite a challenge and then when posters then break up a word like As da to try to avoid the link, it makes it even harder.

It is easy to distinguish when a link is intentional in a post most users bring attention to it by writing in this link here - ...... Not so easy when the link just appears mid sentence.

For anyone who has reading difficulties this is more than just a spammy annoyance, it's making the Mumsnet inaccessible.

Beyond likewise.

salem on my phone yes, they are normal link blue

Yes, the word meditation is being skimlinked, whereas here is a link I have inserted myself to the Skimlinks website so that we may better understand that we are 'comtent' providers, that is commerce-related content.

BIWI although Ad Block will make the links disappear it doesn't stop them being added to your posts. There is a form of opt-out but from the Ts&Cs of Skimlinks:

If you opt-out of Skimlinks cookies, Skimlinks will still operate on pages that Users visit, and still create monetizable links in content if the Publisher has chosen to install Skimlinks on its website. We just won’t optimise these links based on User preferences and behaviours, nor will we associate the websites Users visit and shop from to a specific cookie.

I will say btw mnhq, that I did used to sometimes click regular adverts as I know you need the revenue. The skimlinks have become so annoying though that I have now installed ad blocker, so now I can't click the (now non-existent) regular ads either.

That might be worth considering when weighing up how profitable they are.

Install Ad Blocker Plus and they will disappear.

Sorry MNHQ but these are way too much and too intrusive.

I'd far rather be able to pay you for an ad-free and skim link-free site.

SalemSaberhagen (awesome nn by the way)

I think on the mobile site all the links are the same colour. They certainly look that way to me.

I see they're now invading the mobile site. The links look the same.colour as user inserted links. I've clicked on a few thinking people were linking to actual things and they weren't.
Bad move mumsnet, it really is distracting and annoying when random words become links.

I'm assuming it's a skimlink in your post? Still blue for me! And shotgun, it seems!

Are they definitely skimlinks rather than links added by users? For example Hemi mentions meditation above and that has been skimlinked.

Yes me.

Is anyone else still getting the skimlinks in the same blue as a normal link?

I noticed the meditation thing too. Hemi makes me wonder how it's decided that a particular company is linked to when a generic term is mentioned. I suppose, logically, it must be currentn advertisers - but I'm not sure i've seen ads for Headspace on MN - maybe they're companies MN wants to draw in by proving they can provide clicks by users? So it's kind of speculative advertising, making words link to a particular brand so that brand picks up that they're getting mn tradfic and becomes a fully-fledged client?
I know nothing of this world, btw - just speculating!

I wonder how many MNers will start using adblockers off the back of this? It could end up quite counterproductive.

I've blocked ads on MN for a long time on my laptop, but had MN whitelisted on my mobile Adblock. Kind of a compromise... feeling bad for blocking all ads when I use their service for free. But as soon as I noticed skim links on the mobile site I removed MN from the white list. It's too distracting.

@JustineMumsnet - how long is a few weeks to see how things go? What is the review process? Is it going to taken onboard what users think of this sneaky, inaccurate advertising scam, or just whether it's making MN money?

This is a bit shit mumsnet. Does 'mumsnet' skimlink to itself or would that create some sort of paradox and we'd go round in circles until MN disappears up its own backside?

Oh.........wait.........

(and it's still doing it. I'd like to be able to discuss a generic concept like meditation without linking to the particular brand of headspace CDs, since I don't like/use/recommend them, but that's what comes up if I even mention the word - it is very hypocritical as sometimes it seems like you are recommending products that might be totally opposite to what you are trying to discuss!).

oh it's done it on mine, too.

But it was nothing about vodaphone that I (or the original poster) was talking about - rather, just mentioning something that a smart phone could do, and it seems rather unfair to link to that company in particular. And similar has happened when the person is actually talking about a product, but uses a generic word (like the example earlier, talking about meditation) and it links to a very specific brand of product (in that case, links to meditation CDs) that aren't what the poster was discussing. It makes it confusing.

For example, a thread in property on mortgages, someone has used the words 'smart phone', and it's been converted to a skim link to vodaphone, which is not what the initial poster was talking about in particular - they were just talking generally about smart phones.

It doesn't bother me at all, I would much rather have a skim link than either (a) have intrusive on screen adverts or (b) pay a subscription. Of all the revenue raising initiatives from MNHQ this is probably the least annoying as it doesn't interfere with my use of the forum at all.

Thank goodness for Ad Blocker Plus

Even if I n/c to WaltonsIAmNotASkimlink or WaltonsIDoNotSellSheds, people will still call me Waltons in their replies and I will be a skimlink or a shed-seller again.

Aww waltons, you should be getting a cut at least?

What happens to users with names that get shortened to gin/cake/chocolate?

Do bolded words get linked?