Skimlinks on Talk

[AmyGMumsnet]

Hi folks,

Some of you might have spotted a few more links in discussions across the site - this is because we're testing out a programme called Skimlinks, which auto-converts some of your brand mentions into links.

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.

Thanks all - let us know if you experience any issues that you think might be related.

MNHQ

[PencilsInSpace]

Thank you

I'd be very happy to chip in a few quid a month for an ad-free version.

[Waltons]

Emoticon fail on the but I am safely back to the usual name.

Danfmdorkings's Christmas Elf will not be selling sheds with every post this year.

[WaltonsiaNonSkimlinkia]

Justine, I love you. [tea]

Waltons
x
No sheds!

[SuchHysteria]

Thanks 👍🏻💐💐💐

Not that they bothered me as I have Adblock with the 'non-invasive' ads blocked too 😂 I didn't like the thought of my posts having ads in them though.

[AliceInUnderpants]

Thank you Justine

[SealSong]

Ooh, people have been listened to! That's impressive

[IvyLeagueUnderTheSea]

Thank you for listening to us.

Out of interest how much difference does it make if I turn my add blocker off?

[DonkeyOaty]

Thank you Justine, much appreciated.

[MaroonPencil]

Good call!

[peukpokicuzo]

Thank you!

[Saucery]

Excellent, thank you Justine.

[JustineMumsnet]

@olderthanyouthink

yay, I may turn the non-invasive ads back on

well that would be nice of you

[olderthanyouthink]

yay, I may turn the non-invasive ads back on

[JustineMumsnet]

Ok thanks to everyone for the feedback. We've now had a couple of weeks of testing this and been able to gauge how adaptable and flexible it is operationally and how much revenue it generates.

Put simply, we've decided it's not sufficiently adaptable to the Mumsnet forum needs to make it painless for users. And in any case the revenue generated doesn't really justify the downside of carrying an extra format on the site.

So we are ditching it forthwith. Thanks for being part of the experiment - one positive thing that's come out of it is that we are looking at an ad-free subscription version of MN to offer more choice for folks of how they'd like MN to be. More on that in due course...

Thanks again to those who've taken time to give their views - we do always value and take them into account in our decision-making - and we appreciate your patience in allowing us to test a few things to help pay the bills and to keep the site on a secure financial footing, so we can make sure it's fit for purpose for the next generation of parents.

[olderthanyouthink]

Oh molly... that link to "local newspaper" was there because the poster put the link there . I just went looking for the post and noticed I could see the link and I've got AdBlock on. The link is blue not the red the skimlinks are now.

I think that Skimlinks only gets your location when you click a link but with google analytics MNHQ can see where you physically are and what page you're on, how you got there etc. (I really enjoyed looking at this on one of the sites I built)

[MollyHopps]

No that's the thing Older. I am as far away from Bristol as you could be and have never googled, searched or done anything on the laptop regarding Bristol, which made me wonder if Skimlinks uses a posters location services...

[olderthanyouthink]

molly as far as I know the Skimlinks are tailored to the reader not the poster, the links aren't added when the post was written (hence posts from years ago also having them). Are anywhere near Bristol? Sometimes I get ads targeting me saying hey resident of click this. Sometimes they are very off, thinking I'm somewhere 20 or so miles away.

[paxillin]

Well, the ideal would be a humongous yet personal, and well run webpage, total freedom of speech yet moderated to remain legal, naturally free of charge and no ads whatsoever.

But since it isn't free to run, it could be user-paid, financed by ads or sponsored. Each has its disadvantages, but for me, ads are the best way. I would not want to pay and I imagine there would be an uproar if it was sponsored, any moderator decisions would be looked at with suspicion.

[MollyHopps]

Mumsnet i have a very serious question upthread that no one has responded to and everyone needs to be aware!!!!!!!!!!!

Waaayy upthread TheSnorkMaidenReturns used the words local newspaper in her post and it has linked to Bristol news website.

I am worried this has outed her location and will happen to others with location services and whatnot..... PLEASE ANSWER!

[olderthanyouthink]

jdoe8 I agree that it's a shame that MN has meant that people completely blocked ads so they won't be seeing ads on smaller sites that just use ads to cover the hosting cost.

[MaroonPencil]

I know I have capitalised, boldes and underlined the wrong words there by the way

[MaroonPencil]

I find them intrusive,, because they break the flow of reading. Just the SAME as if random WORDS were capitalised or bolded

Yes we don't have to click but it's quite automatic for me when I see a link to something I want more info about - then you find it's not giving more info, it's a link to a shed company. Or Amazon.

[paxillin]

I totally understand that people have to filter these intrusive light pink words, seeing that every one of them grows into this humongous, unclosable porn page that blasts out loudly. It would be different if they were just pink words people can either click or not.

[jdoe8]

What a shame that now because of MN people are blocking even nonintrusive adverts across all websites. MN might make millions but plenty of other website don't and are reliant on adverts.

[SwedishEdith]

Excellent, it's worked! I'd looked on the exceptions list before bt it was long so didn't look very hard. Should have searched for the words.

Currently blocking 32 ads on this page - and the number keeps rising as I type.