Top bar advertising

[TalkinBoutWhat]

MN, PLEASE fix this advertising bar at the top of the computer screen.

It is so large, that I can't actually click on any of the MN links that are at the top of the page. (eg, active, I'm on, etc).

Right now, on Site Stuff, I can't even click 'Site Stuff' to get other threads in this section. It's hidden by the ad, which is NOT scrolling up and away the way I've seen others do. It's just sitting there. The ONLY threads I can get onto are the active ones on the right hand side of the screen, and only the ones lower down the list as the top ones are hidden by the Ad. (Experian and Marks and Spencers, are the two so far....)

You did this before, we all complained, you apologised and said it shouldn't have been loaded on as you were testing something new. I really hope this was a mistake, because it is IMPOSSIBLE to navigate the site.

My hatred for Miele washing machines is growing by the minute.

I can appreciate, though, that the repetitive message might become a bit annoying so we'll look at limiting it's use.

You get the boiled sweet prize for understatement, MNHQ.

I don't even have adblocker installed.

Fwiw, the ads I see at the moment are for products I can't buy (and probably wouldn't even if I could, just to be contrary) here in the US.

Justine, it's interesting that you are comparing MN to the Mirror. I don't click on the mirror to read anything for the simple reason that it takes forever to load so it is pointless.

Mn is an interactive site. It's not a newspaper. It's a discussion forum. I find it interesting that you are comparing this site to newspaper sites rather than to other discussion forums. Interesting indeed. If there is nothing left to read, then where do you go?

Don't underestimate the demographic you're dealing with. Don't underestimate our intelligence or our lack of loyalty to your brand.

Listen to the people who post on this site. For once.

Mapie I'm with you. £1200+. That would want to iron my fucking clothes, fold them and put them away!

OMG, I've just seen the 'we rely on advertising to keep the lights on' thing.

wtf???
hahahaha
Poor impoverished Justine darning her socks by the light of a candle because people use adblockers

You'll notice that pretty much all ad funded sites now have these same ad formats - The Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mirror - we're pretty late to the game to be honest
and?
these are newspapers where journalists are paid to create the content, this is a forum, where the members (aka freeriding freeloaders) create the content for free, why try to make an argument by analogy when your analogy doesn't stand up at all?

Make a comparison with other forums, not the guardian/telegraph etc fgs

We do REDDIT now
MN is OVER.

Are you being jokey?

If not staaaap with that. Please?

of course I was kidding! but i am not joking about my friends who have all basically decamped to various bits of reddit, and I do think that MN is in danger of losing decent contributors and replacing them with trolls basically.

I’ve installed an adblocker today because

I can’t read the site on my mobile because of the ads

I was running out of data and paying for extra. Here’s hoping it sorts that issue.

Justine I had no issue with a few ads. I get that is how you make your money. But it has got to the point now that the site is unusable.

I wouldn’t pay for the site for the simple reason that I don’t trust that my bank details wouldn’t be hacked from here.

Leaving aside the comparisons that don't really work because they are not chat sites, what the likes of The Guardian etc do is nothing like what MN has started to do. You can click on their reminders and they disappear.

The whitelist notification banner is designed to be almost punitive on here. It's not a reminder, it's actively preventing users with adblockers from using the site.

MN used to be the nest of vipers known for its intelligent debate. MN woman at the elections.

The keep the lights on message is twee and patronising and really not in keeping with the spirit of what the site used to be, in my opinion. I’d have expected it on nethuns. Not here.

Is anything going to be done about this? Ads shouldn't be covering up content on reputable sites. That's what happens on click bait sites. MN has lurched downmarket.

If they are essential to the survival of MN then they should appear once, when we log in. Then bugger off for the duration. Or have a cross so we can close the annoying things.

I'm baffled as to how MN can not know what it's looking like for us on screen. (asking for screen shots ect.) Is there no one in the office who can just ... y'know ... log on MN on their phone or lap top and see it?

I'm the least techy person in the world and shy away from even asking techy questions as i don't even know how to frame the question ! but why can't they just turn off/reverse what ever they turned on/installed on Monday in the meantime and decide what to do instead?

That actually really annoys me about reporting an issue. Why haven’t MN got an iPad, an iPhone, an android phone or a laptop to test things?

If they are essential to the survival of MN then they should appear once, when we log in

To be fair, Justine has said that is what they are aiming to do. Let's hope they achieve it ASAP.

Thing is, when they do it without testing it's a deliberate forced Nudge. Then people complain and get a grudging 'we're not a CHARITY you know!' blast from the top.
A decent user interface is good practice.

The only reason I use an ad-blocker for MN is because the site is virtually unusable without it. It causes my browser to hang and loading anything takes forever.

Also it's incredibly jarring to be in the middle of a sensitive thread about bereavement, or infidelity, or pregnancy loss, and suddenly come across a cheery advert extolling the virtues of the latest Boden sale...

I appreciate that MN is free to use for its members and the flip side to that is that Justine and Carrie have to find a way to monetise their offering. I do take issue with being termed a 'free rider' - when people like me have already explained that the site is only usable with an ad-blocker.

I'm also pondering how me being termed a 'free rider' tallies with us being told quite tartly on more than one occasion that having our content lifted and reproduced in the Daily Mail, is par for the course. Those Daily Mail articles which use posters content, reach an audience of millions and generate lots of lovely - free! - advertising for MN. Hardly 'free riding' is it?

We are more like loss leaders. Tempting little snippets for the DM and FB.

We do REDDIT now
MN is OVER.

How mature

I had thought that a subscription might be the way forward, until poster above reminded me about security. Getting hacked and having to change passwords was annoying. Having financial info hacked would be more than that.

So sorry I would not pay for a subscription unless your security was much better, and you had paid staff around all the time to deal immediately with any possible hacking. Hacks tend to take place at unsocial hours.

I enjoy MN, but not enough to risk my financial details being stolen.

I'd pay a little bit for a better ad free experience. I will want my name to be in gold though as recognition that I'm a superior Mumsnetter.

You've established the formatting of the ads is problematic for users so have implemented a software to help with this that costs £20k pa?? How much income do the ads generate? It's hardly about keeping the lights on is it?

I installed ad blocker because mumsnet was completely and utterly unusable at the time...not for a 'free ride'

This was the third or fourth time i was unable to use mumsnet....if you advance search my name you will see

Ad blocker is actually a very slight pain in my arse as it blocks stuff i dont want it to block. But i put up with it because it enables me to use the site

It enables me to use a site which is actually a working daily advert for all sorts of goods and services, it must be a force as even chicken nuggets etc have recommended by mumsnet on them now

And i am not going to take adblocker down, as on what seems a regular basis there are threads like these which are still complaining about the site not working

I use Firefox and have some adblock installed. I'm still seeing it "please whitelist blah blah blach" and the circle thing.

I have no idea what whitelist means anyhow?

I wouldn’t pay for the site for the simple reason that I don’t trust that my bank details wouldn’t be hacked from here.

I'd appreciate an answer to Notanumberuser's point above tbh.