Huge adverts making site unusable

[Zingy123]

I am being plagued by a Taylor Wimpey advert. It takes up the whole page and makes it impossible to scroll. Please get it removed or made smaller.

The same boots add is doing the same thing. Nothing has changed since MN posted saying they fixed the problem. If I rotate the device as instructed, it works better although it’s annoying in portrait, for a while then the actual ad comes up.

Just spent a bit of time browsing threads but I’m giving up.

One thread froze completely.

On several threads the screen just kept scrolling away from the post I was reading, I assume due to ads still loading.

On one long thread it just became impossible to find the OP’s posts despite using the See Next button, again due to ads loading.

I am a web designer who has managed sites that display ads, and I’m just astonished at how badly you are doing this MN. It’s not that hard.

I have long maintenance that MN IT is managed by someone's teenage son from their bedroom.
How hard can it be? How many screenshots, URLs and why the fuck should the browser make any difference?

*maintained even

How hard can it be? How many screenshots, URLs and why the fuck should the browser make any difference?

You have to wonder don't you, @TootsyPants?

But at the end of the day MN is a business - though we provide the "product" - and advertisers will pay well to get access to the site and infest it with this sort of thing, so as long as the user numbers are maintained it's pretty clear nothing's going to change

Mornning, everyone. We're still doing our best to sort this out but in the meantime, here's a bit more information which we hope might explain the situation better..

Mumsnet, as you probably know, is a free service and relies on ads. These ads are often served dynamically, based on users' interests or the page they are on at the time. Unfortunately, a small percentage of users are being served ads in an incorrect way, specifically on Desktop/Tablet and involving 'width to width' ads.

Although we supply the ads opportunities, we rely on buying tech to serve ads suited to the platform. These ads are meant for mobile environments, which means thhat instead of stretching width to width on a mobile device (no impact on viewing content) it stretches out of the Desktop side ads, covering the content.

We're currently working with an ad verification company that proactively blocks the majority of these issues, but there are still cases (like these) where they slip through certain routes and have an impact on user experience. When that happens, we reactively block ads based on URLs/advertiser name.

The manual process of finding the culprit and implementing blocks can be lengthy as we do not have a direct relationship with these advertisers. This is exacerbated due to having a small team that deals with this. However, we are looking at options to help speed up this process, change the setup and are hiring help to navigate these issues more effectively.

Unfortunately these are not quick fixes and for the moment we still rely on manual exclusions, so we still really appreciate as many details on the issues as possible from our users.

Thanks for updating and for taking steps to remedy this unacceptable problem. The ads that are repeatedly covering my IPad screen are from Leap Frog, VTech, and KitchenAid. Also, for approximately a week during October the site would freeze and stay frozen, but that no longer occurs.

Thanks. I'm getting mostly Leap Frog, VTech, and KitchenAid on my Galaxy tablet as well. Also used to get Cadillac (??!!!!) but they seem to have gone.

I'm still getting the spam virus screen, twice in the last half hour. Same as the previous pp's.

I cleared my cache and browsing history and it (🤞🏼) seems to be ok now

Much appreciate the update, @HebeMumsnet, and I totally get the point about advertising revenue, but how is that relevant with outright scammers (the fake McAfee virus notifications)?

Surely HQ won't buy into the sort doing this, no matter what the money offered - and if not, why can't that one at least be blocked?

@HebeMumsnet do you use google ads?

@HebeMumsnet, I now have a new ad that is creeping across the whole screen — Dove Body Scrub. This is in addition to the 3 others that I have already identified…

Hi there @Puzzledandpissedoff,

Thanks for your message. Don't worry - our previous post about these large ads is not relevant to outright scammers - that's a different thing altogether. This is a breakdown of safeguards and something we are currently working through with the company that should be protecting us from these sorts of scam pop-ups.

@NerdWhoEatsMedlar. Yes, we do use Google ads. They make up a smaller percentage of our ads compared to other websites, but they account for around 20-30% of our ads.

And a big thank you to everyone else here letting us know about these large ads. It's very helpful.

Having massive issues with the huge Boots ad. It takes up the whole page, and around 50% of the time causes my screen to freeze and I have to leave the site.

Very frustrating.

Now having issues with a Clairol ad freezing the screen so I can't scroll down. I only ever use the mobile site.

The McAfee fake scan one again just now, URL was

9r3np2doxt.online/?cgem16lm=U2FsdGVkX18qwAT6mMQwf3JwmE8YfO%2FXm4jLc2KhYDwLEH5wceFQghGTiRiX4NS4LcB0LZZNxJ0Hmj358%2FcMyI%2FuTejoyHaqfa15ZGHDblNDdiYTlb6gLI90U8DwgBJidHSkFJ%2FsQcNrtL3OSkqNNRyZQrziV1lE6fTcecN2HOazUtXsvCh0cByqPmBjpRDAYAaGr1gE68AyQoIDzeB0ko0CGoGEaZ5SMKHQ6sbIYURegMbX%2FSFQAaf08WQEDn4v

Have you scanned your device for virus? Even phones need an anti virus installed.

Of course, @gamerchick and I'm not using a phone. But thanks.

Sorry for not coming back sooner. Still having the same issues. It's a huge Wella advert at the moment. I literally cannot use the site at all. Whatever fixes you have done have had zero effect.

Same for me, it’s just taken well over a minute to load a page.
It’s crashing constantly.

The site is almost completely unusable at the moment. Huge ads filling my phone screen, that are impossible to scroll past. Mainly Leap Frog, Bentley, and Wella, but there are plenty more.
It's not enjoyable spending time on MN these days. Probably not a bad thing mind.

The monster Leap Frog and VTech ads have gone, but KitchenAid, Dove, Nordstrom, and a random credit card are going strong. This is outrageous and out of control.