Skimlinks on Talk

thank you Tribpot!
(I'm even dimmer than I thought I was)

See olderthanyouthinks's post above - AdBlock Plus has whitelisted skimlinks, so to get rid of them, you need to untick the option 'allow some non-intrusive advertising'.

try clearing cookies from your browser, I think thats how skimlinks works (?)

Hmm, I use that but it's not blocking these...

I use this one
adblockplus.org/

Which adblockers are people using? I use 2 but these are still showing.

Found this www.avforums.com/faq/how-do-i-disable-skimlinks-skimwords.19/. Will it work if you put,
[noskim]This is some text I do not want Skimlinks or Skimwords to create a link in.[/noskim] on here? A faff, of course.

Just seen one of these on a thread about university. Someone mentioned i n s u r a n c e c h o ice
and it showed as a skimlink to god knows what. Nothing to do with the subject being discussed though. Who's going to see that and think 'oh, that reminds me, must get the car/house insurance sorted'?

Here's a link to a shed company I've put in just to be helpful, Beyond. If you buy a shed from there they will send me 5p and of course Walton$ herself will be rolling in it.

I actually need a new shed. Shame I've put ad blocker on

Gee, thanks MN. I've just wasted a (slightly anxious) hour or so trying to figure out if my phone had been infected with malware. Then I cleared my browser history and data to be on the safe side, which is actually really inconvenient because it serves a purpose and now it's gone. (I also had to reset my MN password - I'd forgotten it as have the 'stay logged in' box checked.)

Then I thought to check here, only to discover you've opted for skimlinks. A heads-up would've been helpful.

And of course the things the skimlinks link to are a best tangentially related to the content of the post. So not that useful to users really.

*it's all for the greater good:

This makes it easier for you to have a look at products that other MNers happen to mention on the boards, and, if you decide to make a purchase from one of these links, Mumsnet benefits from a small commission*

Comments like that are the reason people are so annoyed. I assumed that comment wasn't from staff, but it was. Even my pre teen would hate being spoken to like he is stupid.

I could understand if the site wasn't created by users content, like the guardian, or if it was in the black. But 2 million profit a year is loads for a message board.

Someone said that is low compared to 3 million of MSE, but MSE is a very different site and makes a shit load of money from all the commission for expensive financial products. They got £150 for everyone they suggested to sign up to an Icelandic bank.

I imagine they get paid per click and action depending on the link, so people just clicking to see where the link will lead (like me!) are probably making the skim linking look successful.

I've just read an old link about skimlinks, from 2012.
Have these things been tried many times in the past or is this just the second time?

SHUT IT!!!!

Waltons do you need a new shed? Waltons should send you one for free for increasing their site traffic

herewecome I can't hear 'the greater good' without thinking about Hot Fuzz but now I'm afraid what Hot Fuzz might slimlink to.

Is this purely an affiliate thing? (i.e. MN only get paid if someone buys something from the site)

If so, I wonder if MN have actually made any money from this? Doesn't sound like such a great opportunity for MN anyway.

there was a topic about rape that contained a link to a computer game

@JustineMumsnet surely this kind of thing is unacceptable? Not to mention a PR risk?

I understand you've excluded sensitive topics, but we talk about sensitive issues all over MN.

I also understand you're in a difficult place, balancing the (often very vocal!) needs of your board users against the need to make money to keep the whole thing going.

But this really doesn't sit right.

money for old rope
Old rope donated for free by us busy mumnetters
Who can blame them for milking us for every last drop!

Sorry MN but you make 2million in profit a year from your companies house figures from essentially a message board where other people do all the content. You just have to moderate it (that you do well imo) and keep it secure and running, not so well and many security experts called your software a leaking sieve after the hacks.

This takes the , getting hundreds of thousands from kraft to sell our data and product placement is fair enough, this isnt. There was a topic about rape that contained a link to a computer game!

I'd never heard of them before. Certainly won't buy from them now. Oh, the Power Of Advertising!

Bold fail ^^

Yep, still there: get your sheds while you can folks - Tech might get around to me next week.

@Waltons, we're adding your name to the exclusion list now, although it might take a little while to update.

I luffs you, AmyMN. Take and from Waltons.

(Just testing - I'll be patient if I'm still a shed for a few days more.)

Gah. Just came here as I though Mumsnet had been hacked. Hate this, so tacky.