To think most of you don’t know Mumsnet are now requiring acceptance of cookie tracking or payment to use the site?

[OldChairMan]

… as MN have only posted in Site Stuff:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff/5268190-introducing-pay-or-consent-on-mumsnet?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Many will click on “Read for free” without realising that this is a change in the site’s terms.

“Hello everyone.

We wanted to give you a heads-up about a change in the way we deal with cookie consent. We are introducing a Pay or Consent model, giving you two different options to continue accessing the site:

• Continue for free with cookies and ads: this is the option that most people have enabled already.
• Subscribe to Mumsnet Premium: For those who prefer an ad-free experience with no cookies/tracking for ad purposes - Besides ad-free you’ll also get first access to our product tests plus all revenues from Premium are put towards our campaigning work

Why are we making this change?

The pay or consent model is becoming increasingly common across online platforms as publishers adapt to changes in advertising levels and data privacy regulations. Like many other publishers, we relied on advertising to generate income but changes in tracking regulation and the growing use of ad blockers have made this model less viable.

We know that Mumsnet is an essential space for many - a place to seek advice, find support, and connect with your fellow Mumsnetters. That’s why we’re committed to ensuring that the site remains free at the point of use for anyone who needs it but it’s not fair that those who install ad blockers or rejected cookies are piggy backing on the back of other users who haven’t.

At the same time as introducing this, we’re going to reduce the price of Mumsnet Premium to £2.99 a month because we want to be fair to those who’d rather not accept advertising cookies. This is less than the cost of a flat white a month from most decent coffee shops and we very much hope you think Mumsnet’s worth it! Nb anyone who’s signed up to Mumsnet Premium already at the previous price (£4.99 per month) will have their payments reduced within the next week or so.

We’ll be here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, as always, for supporting Mumsnet.”

This should be pinned at the top of every thread.

Am pleased you've posted this in AIBU it seems very deliberate that MNHQ have not only hidden it in site stuff but that it's not showing on active so many people won't actually see the thread.

It doesn't bother me.
Seems fair enough.
I can still read it for free.
And it's free to join so able to contribute also.
Am I being naive?
I am not tech savvy.
Why should I care about cookies?
Genuine question.
Ink cartridges were new tech in my era.

If you click on the thread, there are plenty of more tech savvy people than me explaining their concerns.

It isn't very hidden though is it, since a very new consent or pay box has started coming up.

@alexdgr8 you won't be using for free, you'll be paying with your data. Some websites sell your data to 700+ vendors. Take a look at a cookie banner next time asked.

Of course we should be able to read this site for free, we work here for free. We provide the content which allows the company to make millions in profit!

Yes but that doesn't fully explain what you're actually agreeing to. It basically just asks if you want to continue for free with ads or subscribe and pay. Several posters on the site stuff thread have said they clicked it not realsising it had anything to do with their cookies.

I think this is fair enough - the site costs money to run, therefore needs to generate income from somewhere, which means advertising. I value the experience I get from the site, but don't enjoy it with ads, so choose to subscribe to Premium to reflect the value I get from it. It isn't a charity - why should they provide the service at a loss (which is effectively what is happening for each person who uses an adult blocker etc - they are getting content which is free to them but which costs MN money to provide).

Agreed, it was such an obnoxious full screen pop up you couldn’t close out of it! Hard to miss!

I'm glad Mumsnet are focusing on the most important issues.

Who needs overnight moderation when you can squeeze a bit more out of the users upon whose backs your site exists.

it’s not fair that those who install ad blockers or rejected cookies are piggy backing on the back of other users who haven’t.

Who makes that judgement? Adblockers are updated constantly and you will never get rid of free readers. What about if the person using the blocker contributes constantly, driving traffic to the site? Are they taking anything away from anyone?

Look up 'browser containers'. You can use containers to isolate websites e.g. isolate MN to one container, then FB to another container. Each container is its own browser instance, so that they can't collect data from each other.

I noticed the message said MN is funded by adverts which to me suggested the adverts are just paying for the site as if it’s just a public service. Rather than the truth that MN makes a profit. It’s fine that they make a profit but it think the wording is misleading.

Profit after tax for the year to 31 December 2023 was £2.3m and dividends paid out in that year were £1.8m.. the site isn’t going to go bust..!

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03951486/filing-history

I'm happy to pay and have been since premium was introduced over COVID. Nice it's going down a bit though as a fiver was a bit too much.

It massively fails the transparency test re cookies. Though to be honest I’m not sure that clicking Accept on it does actually mean that the user has accepted all cookies. I suspect they haven’t actually built the full new “pay or consent” gateway yet and have just shoved up some half-arsed version for now.

Another reason I think this is that it doesn’t yet stop me accessing the site even though have an ad blocker installed. On other sites I get a popup saying “we see you have an ad blocker installed, please disable it to continue”. I am here having clicked “accept” to ads, but I can’t see any.

Profit after tax for the year to 31 December 2023 was £2.3m and dividends paid out in that year were £1.8m.. the site isn’t going to go bust..!

This information kinda undermines the last few MNHQ posts.

It's laughable that there is a premium option when they don't even have one night moderator. I was really shocked to find out this week that they only have a 'night watch' of volunteers.

I always think these things are aimed at the majority of users who I believe don't use adblockers.

Those that want to will always find a way.

MN don't provide content. They host content which is provided for free by people who post on the site.

Not sure what you mean? The message from MNHQ specifically mentions ad blockers.

We certainly found that out the worst possible way. Christ.

Mumsnet is a business and here for the owners and shareholders to make money.

Of course they will do everything to maximise profit. Possibly shareholders demanding it.

We are all paying customers in one way or another.

I mean the new consents will not bother those that use adblockers anyway.

Not my clearest post.

A lot of people who use Ad blockers are disabled people who need to reduce the visual noise for sensory needs.

They're basically calling their Disabled users who can't afford to pay for ad free viewing 'freeloaders' and unwanted..