To think the ads on mumsnet are ruining the site

[SecondBanana]

I understand that some advertising is necessary to keep the lights on here. But, given the fact that the site’s content is pretty much user-generated, isn’t it a bit CF of mumsnet to be now charging us for the pleasure of reading it without the distracting obstacles that the new style adverts are presenting? For many of us the days are long and demanding enough. I think I might be out 🙃

It's the flashing, constantly changing ads at the top of the page that then turns into a bigger box with an advert playing which just keeps coming back and it's just too much and if you close it, it just comes back.

I keep getting a lipstick one with close ups of lips and then someone squeezing a spot which makes me feel ill.

It's ridiculous.

I don't mind the ads between the posts but the top of the page one is genuinely awful and intrusive.

This.

I don't actually notice the ads too much. But the stability of the site is far worse than any other website I visit regularly. It so often freezes and crashes on my phone or laptop, due to all the ads.

I never understand these threads. I use Chrome on a laptop or on my phone and can't really see any adverts. There's some down the side of the page on desktop, but otherwise they're hardly visible and the site is usually fine, despite me having a fairly basic old phone and laptop.

The way people describe it makes it sound like the Reach Media shite websites which are ruined by adverts, so compared to that, MN is fine, the adverts are barely noticeable.

I use the app and it rarely freezes. I don't notice the ads either!

I don’t understand these threads. I never use the desktop site, only the iPhone app and there’s almost no ads. Well not enough I notice them. It’s a proper forum on the app

There is a Temu ad above your post but it's not intrusive!

I don't see any ads, chrome browser

Ads are necessary, i get that, but the ones that slide in to where you are touching the screen, then you’re being diverted to something you don’t want to see, are really annoying. And I hate that the page is slow to load when it’s loading ads first.

I changed my phone browser and it made all the difference. My phone no longer crashes, overheats, battery doesn’t tank and the ads are so much less intrusive. It was unusable for me before.

There’s a thread on this in site stuff.

in the past ten days the site using safari via iPhone has become unusable. I’ve switched to the Ap but don’t like the layout; that threads you are on revert back to OP not last read; that only user names are different colour not the whole thread; my own posts aren’t highlighted and infinite scroll.

I don’t want to have to use a different browser, or purchase a VPN. I’ve been on MN 20+ years and seen some crap but this might be the nail in the coffin.

I use Chrome on an Android phone, and have had an issue recently with those irritating ads that extend across the screen. They seem to glitch, go massive, and cover the entire thread so I can't see anything! Can't access a button to close it or move anything, so have to refresh the screen to get rid. Then it happens again ten minutes later. At which point I usually give up and do something useful instead. So I guess it's served to cut my screen time. I get something similar on the Guardian website, thoughless often, but literally nowhere else. It's possibly something in my browser, but honestly I can't really be arsed to work out what.

I use the app and the ads are just under posts, I don’t even notice them.

And all the 'promoted' posts in trending...😠

Yes the flashing is super distracting, also the moving ones make me feel sick. They also bugger up if you have a fast moving thread which means nothing runs properly on my laptop. If I am watching along with other posters who are all commenting in real time I will need to close and reopen the site at least once, or the show we are watching. Very annoying as the pace is lost.

On my phone I see an ad between every 2 posts on this thread, with another ad showing at the top of the screen. That does feel like quite a lot!

Same and I agree that's a lot. It's at risk of becoming like Facebook where there are more ads than content and it's not worth visiting.

Install an ad blocker.

With Google and Meta hoovering up the vast majority of digital ad spend, smaller publishers (and most other publishers) like MN are left fighting for their lives.

With the amount MN can charge advertisers being pushed down and down, the only options are to add more ads on site or offer an ad free experience at a cost.

Ads are a necessary evil. If you want free and open internet, you have to put up with them. Otherwise you will have to pay to visit every site you visit.

Depressing.
I think Facebook was the canary down the coalmine - no one uses it because you never see another real person. The internet will become so saturated it will be unusable. If we make another am hopeful it won't be all about selling and porn and revert back to the initial idea of communication and learning.

I am bemused at the ads posts tbh, I use the app and have the odd ad in between posts, but they are small and I literally scroll past and couldn’t tell you what they are for. I never see pop ups. Am I just lucky?

Because for some users it is like that. There are numerous threads about it in site stuff, with MNHQ constantly apologising and saying they're trying to sort it. Even whilst I'm typing this, there are constant moving ads at the side of the page, another ad below it and then more below the text box. There are also 5 separate ads in between every other post as I scroll down the thread

There are also others that take up the whole of the top of the page and mean you can't navigate anywhere else, because as soon as you click it takes you to the advertisers website

Yes but the app is utterly shit compared to the desktop site. So little functionality that using it after using the desktop site feels like a massive step back.

No you aren't "just lucky" - you are using the app! Which by the way harvests a shit ton of your data.

The main problem is on the website version, as explained.

This thread is a prime example, every time someone posts and I get a notification I come back and it is taking 4mins or so to load each time, circle just going round and round...whether it will actually post this or I'll have to shut out of the site, who knows!