Introducing Pay or Consent on Mumsnet

[BeckyAMumsnet]

Hello everyone.

We wanted to give you a heads-up about a change in the way we deal with cookie consent. We are introducing a Pay or Consent model, giving you two different options to continue accessing the site:

1. Continue for free with cookies and ads: this is the option that most people have enabled already.
2. Subscribe to Mumsnet Premium: For those who prefer an ad-free experience with no cookies/tracking for ad purposes - Besides ad-free you’ll also get first access to our product tests plus all revenues from Premium are put towards our campaigning work

Why are we making this change?

The pay or consent model is becoming increasingly common across online platforms as publishers adapt to changes in advertising levels and data privacy regulations. Like many other publishers, we relied on advertising to generate income but changes in tracking regulation and the growing use of ad blockers have made this model less viable.

We know that Mumsnet is an essential space for many - a place to seek advice, find support, and connect with your fellow Mumsnetters. That’s why we’re committed to ensuring that the site remains free at the point of use for anyone who needs it but it’s not fair that those who install ad blockers or rejected cookies are piggy backing on the back of other users who haven’t.

At the same time as introducing this, we’re going to reduce the price of Mumsnet Premium to £2.99 a month because we want to be fair to those who’d rather not accept advertising cookies. This is less than the cost of a flat white a month from most decent coffee shops and we very much hope you think Mumsnet’s worth it! Nb anyone who’s signed up to Mumsnet Premium already at the previous price (£4.99 per month) will have their payments reduced within the next week or so.

We’ll be here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, as always, for supporting Mumsnet.

@LoopyLoopyLoo Netmums' posters would shit themselves if mumsnetters descended on them 😂

I'm sure there was talk about a Mumsnet outing to visit Netmums, once.

So that is probably the message that popped up whilst I was trying to click on my profile and put one of it's options where I was clicking. Any idea how I find out what I've just selected?

I'd be a lot more likely to pay fior premium if some of the profits went to improving security and user experience (paid, full-power night mods; pre-screening ads rather than dealing with inappropriate/virusy ones after they land; ensuring ad size and position doesn't make it impossible to scroll on a phone ...).

There is an option to pay for Premium annually I think.

You’ve not selected premium membership as you’d have been asked to pay. So you’ve selected the current default with-ads membership. Under Privacy you can see what the cookie settings are.

Of course they will and Mumsnet know it. I personally don’t care and will stay

But that is also an auto-renew subscription.

I agreed, how can I now say I don't!

As I have said on another thread this move might end up being better for my mental health.

I spend far too much time browsing this site because I have shit will power. I won't watch ads so if I am forced to I will have to find something more productive to do with my free time.

from the ashes of this imploding site should arise a new,
modern, safer, more forensically moderated site

@Hadjab Someone uploaded the worst kind of child sexual abuse images imaginable! Then it took hours & hours for them to be deleted because MN only use volunteers overnight to moderate who don't have enough powers to delete stuff!

I'm going - I don't allow sites to track me.
Account deleted

Couldn't have put it better myself! They're unbelievable

Same. Literally this week I have consciously put MN down and done my jigsaw while listening to an audiobook. It's a great place for advice, support and a laugh, but such a time sink.

It’s one thing though to have a subscription model which benefits the subscriber e.g. 0 ads. But premium doesn’t offer that, it just says “less ads” which means you still get ads.

It’s quite another thought to say you either need to subscribe or otherwise your data will not be safe.

MN has had multiple data breaches in the past, and whenever a website, any website has a data breach, people are naturally reticent to trust them with any of their information. So to actively choose an option which puts your information at risk is at best ill advised, and yet people are being told to either do that or to entrust MN (a site with a history of data breaches) with their credit card details.

Either way people are putting their data at risk.

I rather suspect this is just a distraction thread. They have had this pay to stop cookies for a few weeks now.

I just tried to quote denhaags message and it doesn't seem to be working. Is there an issue now?

Anyway just wanted to say well done on breaking free.

😳

Think this will be me leaving mumsnet then. I use ad blocker precisely because your ads are incredibly obnoxious and inappropriate. I'm not up for being tracked on top of having to remove adblock, thanks!

At the very bottom of the page, 'Privacy settings' lets you change accept to reject.

but it’s not fair that those who install ad blockers or rejected cookies are piggy backing on the back of other users who haven’t

🤣🤣🤣

The contempt that MN is showing the people who actually create their website content is obscene.

I don’t think it’s fair that I had to see child sec abuse imagines on Sunday night and lie awake after seeing them because MN can’t do basic cybersecurity right, but here we are.

A reminder that MN can only generate ad revenue if there are enough people visiting MN. People visit MN to read the content that is created by users.

Alienating users is not going to help drive ad revenue. Creating a site that’s useable will.

I was shocked to see the new accept or pay when I logged in just now. There had been no warning or consultation with users as far as I am aware. Mumsnet is being unreasonable on this alone.

Then I must come to the timing of this. Mumsnet has chosen to spring this change on us only 2 days after multiple CSA images were posted on the site over a 4-5 hour period. Most if not all of us are still reeling from this attack and, of those amongst us who saw those images of children being sexually abused, some may never fully recover. Most if not all of us will still have those poor children - their lives then, their lives since, now and in the future - in the forefront of our minds today and for a very long time to come.

I have been on here almost from the very beginning. It is not the first time confidence in the site has been deeply shaken, not only by a serious targeted attack from a criminal element but also by the foreseeable flaws in the site that allowed the attack to happen and by Mumsnet's response at the time. And here we are again.

I am deeply disappointed in Mumsnet for choosing to introduce accept or pay at this time, when all the focus should be on dealing with the CSA images attack with the police, going above and beyond to support those directly involved on the night and preventing it ever happening again. It seems to be a quite cynical decision to increase revenue and placate advertisers. Money has been saved for decades by not paying for moderators at night and more recently by not updating the tech as soon as it became available to prevent CSA images being posted in the first place. It was completely unacceptable that this attack could go on for hours, with our Night Watch volunteers left exposed to trauma and criticism while valiantly doing their best, without the ability to post images and re-register being suspended, without the police being informed and, if all else failed, without the site being temporarily taken down. Being profit-driven as a priority over site, volunteer and user safety is what got us into the truly awful mess we are now in.

There is enough profit in the site to be going on with. If it doesn't feel that way then perhaps Justine and her senior team need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and tighten their belts. Mumsnet has to accept that they have made mistakes and need to take a hit on that profit to put those mistakes right. Introducing accept or pay now is shooting themselves in the foot because it shows scant regard for the experiences and feelings of users at this awful time. Without its users, Mumsnet would be nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Finally, from my professional and personal experience, my strong advice to all those who were exposed to the CSA images on the site, is please accept some specialist help, even if you feel you don't or shouldn't need it. Believe me when I tell you that you do need it. Mumsnet should help you with this.

I noticed that. It does work, just doesn't scroll to the bottom of the page as it used to. It's there though.

Interesting choice of timing.
I think I'm done with MN.