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Top bar advertising

26 replies

TalkinBoutWhat · 23/10/2017 13:17

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.

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MNHQ

CarolineMumsnet · 23/10/2017 14:04

Hi everyone. We are so sorry for all the frustration this is causing. Just wanted to hop on quick to let you know tech is, as we speak, working on a fix for the issues with the advertising bar. We'll keep you updated here Flowers Flowers.

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 14:38

Hello, OP could you post a screenshot for us please? Or mail it over to [email protected] if you prefer. Thanks!

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 14:57

Thanks ReinettePompadour

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 15:01

Hello again, thanks for your patience.

The tech team have found the issue with the large ad covering the links to Active etc, and are working on a fix right now. We'll let you know when it's sorted.

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 15:25

Hi all, the issue with the large ads should be fixed now. If you have any further probs with this please let us know! Thanks for bearing with us while we got it sorted.

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 16:03

Hmm, thanks for letting us know, sorry to hear you're still having problems.

Please could you post screenshots, and also confirm which browser you're on if you can still see the large ad covering the links to Active and TIO etc? Thanks!

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 16:08

Thanks monkeywithacowface, will send that to tech Flowers

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 16:22

monkeywithacowface Does the ad go away after a few seconds, or is it 'stuck' there?

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 16:41

Hi tiggytape, thanks for posting and clarifying. Any chance you could post a screenshot of it covering the links? Also, are you on Chrome?

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 17:07

Hi MyBrilliantDisguise - if you scroll up can you see the links to Active/TIO etc? And does the ad "shrink back" after a few secs?

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 23/10/2017 17:28

Hi Toad - can you post us a screenshot of the 'white space' with the message please? Does it stay 'stuck' on the page, or shrink back after five seconds or so?

MNHQ

AaaaaaaarrghmyGMumsnet · 24/10/2017 12:09

Hi all, thanks for the continued feedback. To clarify, the way the ad is meant to work is that it'll be 'held' on screen for 5 seconds after it loads, before scrolling off. You might see normal leaderboard ads which will be 728x90, or a billboard ad at 970x250.

The ads shouldn't cover the Active/TIO/TIW links if you are scrolled to the top of a page - certainly for no more than a split second while the resize adjusts.

U2hastheEdge - can you screenshot the 'bar' and post on here or ping a mail over to [email protected] please?

ShoesHaveSouls thanks for bringing this to our attention - does it 'jump' after its been on screen for five seconds? So failing to shrink back as it should?

SilverSpot thanks for posting, please can you screen shot the ad covering the forum buttons? Does it stay there?

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:01

Hi all,
Sorry some you are cross about the ads and that we had a bit of an implementation issue where they weren't functioning correctly and blocking some of the links - we have a few different outsourced ad providers showing multiple ads, so it's pretty difficult to be sure we've tested every last one on every last device prior to launch - but we probably should have given you some warning that it was coming and there was the possibility of teething troubles (my bad!)

The changes we've made are because our ads are display being penalised for their lack of view ability. Essentially advertisers are insisting that the ads stay on screen for at least 5 seconds even when you scroll. 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.

The delay in ads loading is also a deliberate strategy to stop the ads slowing down the loading of the page. We made this change a few weeks ago and our page load speed has pretty much halved, which is considered very good for usability.

At the same time as introducing this new, more viewable format we've stopped taking what's known as "page takeovers" programmatically. They are the ones, as the name suggests, that wrap around the entire page - there's one on the Mirror homepage at the moment - in attempt to improve user experience.

In short, we're not try to increase revenues from display advertising - actually our strategy is diametrically opposite and they've been falling over the last few years as we are aiming to reduce our dependence on display ads over time. We'd rather make our revenue from something folks don't find annoying - e.g. insight, e-commerce, native content etc - but we can't just switch them off I'm afraid and the simple truth is that those who use ad blockers are free riding off those who don't - hence our whitelist message. I can appreciate, though, that the repetitive message might become a bit annoying so we'll look at limiting it's use.

We are also considering subscription/ upgrade options and working on some alternatives in this regard which might work better for some and we should be in a position to show you some of those this quarter.

Thanks for all the input.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:15

@ToadTheVampireThreadKiller

If the ads didn't slow the site so much them we wouldn't need the adblockers in the first place, there are other sites that have ads that don't do this.

It is the sheer waste of time waiting for all the crap to load that made me block them, so much clutter on the page that I can go and make a hot drink while I am waiting.

Surely they don't have to be so big, they are still going to be at the top of the page where you can't avoid them.

What will the advertisers do if people stop using the site?

I don't think the ads do slow the site at all now we've implementing the dual loading - i.e. content loads first, followed by the ads (we've employed some third-party software to do this at an annual cost of 20k). The billboard format is large I agree and over time we'd like to lose it - but it's used widely, we're and by no means unusual. I think all non subscription newspaper sites have it more than MN for instance.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:16

@heron98

Please please please can you stop the logo being shown at the top all the time when you scroll down?

I use MN at work on the sly and having the logo blasting out means I can't do this any more :(

Hmm - we hadn't thought of that one - will talk to Tech to see if there's any incognito solution...

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 16:17

@Laiste

It stays down for 16 seconds on mine.

Every.time.i.refresh.or.change page.

Once would be ok as you log on. Not every bloody page change.

Yes agreed - that's what we're implementing.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 17:08

@OlennasWimple

Hang on JustineMN- I really resent the "freeloading" comment.

AFAIK there's nothing in the MN guidelines that says users should not block ads. We all use the internet in very different ways, and what works for one user won't work for another.

FWIW I don't use an ad blocker because they tend to interfere with a couple of other sites I use, but I never ever click (deliberately) on the ad. Partly because they are seldom of interest to me, partly because I find it creepy that if I search for flights to Paris on Expedia one day, the next day ads for hotels in Paris are being pushed at me through MN the next day. I know how and why the system works, but I don't like it and refuse to engage with it.

Meanwhile, I am a reasonably long standing MNer who posts a fair bit (probably more than I should at the moment...). I reckon that this helps MN by keeping the activity up, responding to threads and therefore encouraging other users to post and keep responding themselves. Heck, occasionally I might even post something really useful to other MNers. I even report trolly threads and posts, including during the night. I think I'm a pretty decent MNer all in all.

So I'm sure you didn't mean to insult us by calling us freeloaders, but your choice of words was pretty crass.

I didn't actually say freeloading, I said free-riding - which is a slightly different well known economic dilemma. Really not trying to knock your contribution Olennas, but of course if everyone took the same stance on adblockers we'd struggle. (Although I also agree that posting advice is also a valuable contribution and maybe something we can try to consider if we were to introduce an alternative subscription/premium model)

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 17:13

[quote ToadTheVampireThreadKiller]The changes we've made are because our ads are display being penalised for their lack of view ability. Essentially advertisers are insisting that the ads stay on screen for at least 5 seconds even when you scroll. 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.

Nothing to do with this then?

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/top-brands-pull-ads-as-mumsnet-users-turn-the-air-blue-confused-com-bulgari-national-trust-prjv0rlgd[/quote]

No nothing! (that article was a pile of tosh tbh)

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 17:17

@clownfaces

I have this hell. MNHQ - I thought you said the wrap around ads had gone? Confused

Ah yes we will still have a few - we've stopped taking them programatically (that's the automatic route that most of ads are sold by), as said, but there will still be the odd one or two that are sold direct. They should be much less prevalent though. (And we are working on making them a bit more beautiful).

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 17:22

@ToadTheVampireThreadKiller

The problem with the annoying white thing at the top or the ad that is there when it isn't blocked is that is stays there making it difficult to read the page until it decides to slide up to the top.

I can't cope with things that make random noises or auto play or flash at me.

I turn the ad blocker on and off depending on the site I am using, but usually on mainly for Ebay and Mumsnet because there is just too much gong on and it is in my face (and eyes).

If the companies are not making money from the ads it is because people don't want to see them, they are intrusive. If they were scaled down to a reasonable size and didn't flash and bounce around I wouldn't need to hide them although I would never click on them anyway.

As said we're looking at introducing alternative premium options but I don't think ours are worse than your average site and better than most. We'd love to move to a more native solution (like facebook sponsored posts) but there's been a fair bit of negativity around our experiments in that area. We'll certainly keep trying other options though with a view to moving to be less reliant on display advertising (which I agree is not ideal) over time, as I mentioned.

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 24/10/2017 17:24

@ToadTheVampireThreadKiller

No nothing! (that article was a pile of tosh tbh)

However, people have read it, and the other papers, and it is still out there for all to see.

Doesn't seem to have affected advertisers though - I think most understand the value of authenticity - and there have been other articles saying as much. Plus I got a personal apology from Confused.com for their quote the piece. But fingers crossed it's not all about to cave in...

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 25/10/2017 12:23

We're working on both being able to hide the logo and message about white list only appearing once a day. Hopefully those changes will both be today or tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

MNHQ

SandyMumsnet · 25/10/2017 16:32

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your feedback on this, we've passed all your concerns onto our tech team and they are doing all they can to help the situation. We totally get that you are horribly frustrated and it's really not what we like to hear.

We have an ongoing program looking at our accessibility which reviews and highlights where we can improve. We do hope you will bear with us. Flowers

MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 27/10/2017 16:16

Hi all,
To update you, the changes we've made now since this thread started are as follows:

We've sorted the original issue whereby the ad was obscuring links at the top of page and we've removed the "lights on" message at the top of the screen in favour of just the word advertisement. We've also introduced a "Remove header" link - you can find that link right at the bottom of the page. It only works if you're logged in and once clicked will stay on for 24 hours unless you re-click on Show Header.

Other things we are still currently working on: cutting right back on the number of Billboards shown (those are the very big ones at the top of the page) - we have some agreements in place so we can't do this overnight - plus seeing if we can load the ad more quickly/ hold it for less time at the top of the page. The other things is a premium version of Mumsnet (cf Reddit Gold) for those who'd rather subscribe than have any display ads. (This is in scoping out phase so will take a wee while but we'll give you an update on our progress as soon as we can).

Thanks, as ever, for all the input we do appreciate it - we are committed to making Mumsnet as usable as possible while also, dare I say it, keeping the lights on.

MNHQ

KateMumsnet · 07/11/2017 10:18

Hi all

We've run some test here and it does look as though the current format isn't ideal for those on a chromebook or with a smaller screen/lower powered device - so over the next few months we're going to be testing four different formats, all of which seem likely to be less intrusive. Nothing's set in stone yet so do bear with us - and thanks again for the feedback, very useful as ever.

MNHQ

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