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.

Well said!

“We had a huge and distressing incident involving images of CSA, the members aren’t happy, what shall we do?”

”Hmm… oh I know! Right, call them all freeloaders and tell them they have to pay to use the site now or be bombarded with trackers and malware”

”Absolutely brilliant Justine! You’re an icon”

team pats each other on the back

We don’t just have to worry incase 1) the media pick up our posts , 2) you’re scrolling Facebook one day and someone you know has shared your post from Mumsnet and they are friends with the person your post is about …

but they also want us to pay £2.99 every month (at the moment , whilst the site is a shit show , then that will bump up ) for the pleasure .

This will be the beginning of the end to Mumsnet and what we know it ..
All coz they got greedy …

RIP Mumsnet …

Or to the Mail, Mirror, Sun or Grauniad, when they 'pay tribute to' exciting MN content.

I wonder if there's a way that MN could/does financially benefit from the papers lifting their content for their profit, as provided by us?

Huh? No-one's asking you to supply your bank details?

Wow.

I agree with a PP above, RIP Mumsnet.

What an odd time to be making this announcement. Priorities...

I'm another one who always clicks no cookies and has an ad blocker running. I do not use sites that require me to stop using it. However, I do pay for sites that I want to use that are well run and appreciate that they need to make money to provide the service that I am using.

I've been on Mumsnet 20+ years, and originally signed up using my real details and email address. However, after the events with the 'rogue' intern, data releases, and the risk that I mostly use the FWR part of the site, I deleted my account and signed back on using a burner email address. I am not willing to provide my financial details to Mumsnet as they have not shown that they are capable of keeping them secure. Therefore, I will not pay to use it, despite being willing to do so!

How would you pay MN for your monthly tracking-free access, then?

Well you either pay for an online service with money or with giving it your data. Some I allow access to my data (web browsing habits etc) others I pay for. The bigger a platform gets the more expensive it is to run because it uses more resources, human and technical..

It's not rocket science. Just make your choice. I chose to subscribe to Premium when it first appeared. Using MN without ads is worth it for me 🤷🏼‍♀️.

written between the lines …

You don’t give people your bank details when you pay money TO them!

Yes, same.

I don't mind adverts but I do mind having to accept all cookies, are you saying that the option to select compulsory only will be removed?

Off I pop then.

The vast difference between sites that charge and this one is that on sites that charge (The Times/ Sun etc) THEY provide the content and their readers consume it.
Here, WE provide the content. We are the content.
I think all those at MN Towers need to pop the gin down and have a rethink. Culturally it feels likes there has a been a shift in your team. We’re the problem now, right? The site would be great if it wasn’t for all of those pesky users? Bit like the creep that happens in the NHS where patients become the problem instead of the reason for everything.

They didn't waste any time implementing it I've had two pop ups already asking if I want to pay or continue for free. I'm hoping these won't pop up repeatedly...

This will make it much easier for me to give up MN. I've managed quite long periods without it but never managed to fully quit. This is what I need. Thank you.

There is absolutely no need for them to be rude about it though.

And what is the date that this change will happen from please @BeckyAMumsnet?
I just want to be prepared for when I need to deregister and sign off.
Your ads are intrusive so that's why I block them! They move about blocking what I'm reading (trying to get me to accidently click on them I think) and often move my position on the page just so that I can see the ad which is so intrusive, frustrating and irritating.

I follow the advice of my computer expert and block all cookies for everything (except essential) and will continue to do so.
I would be willing to pay a nominal sum say £1 per month to block but £2.99 - no. In the time I've been on this page (15mins) my system has blocked 31 ads from your site alone - 31!
I will deregister as soon as this comes in and I will lose contact with all my friends on the cancer pages but hey ho. I'm actually reducing things that I pay subs on so I'm not going to leave a MN sub for my DP to try and cancel when I'm gone.

How are they proposing taking the payments, then, if not by direct debit or recurring card payment authorisation?

Or are they asking kindly if you'd set up a standing order, the same as you do to pay your friendly local window cleaner?

You cannot be serious. (I've retyped that sentence many times to be as polite as possible, but I am struggling.)

Years of neglect of the IT infrastructure to the extent that the site has been borderline unusable for weeks on top of all the usual glitches and security breaches. Then the very day after the completely inadequate IT and moderation are exposed in the national media you introduce this and refer to users who have provided years and years of content as freeloaders?

Absolutely ridiculous and so tone deaf it's almost funny.

I've been trying to leave for ages and I think this is the kick I needed - not just the change itself which is bad enough, but the way it's been communicated and the timing.

@BeckyAMumsnet - I doubt you have made this decision yourself, and I doubt you're paid enough to be communicating the bad news of other people's poor decision making. You should get out too.

Yes, if you're going to be a cheeky fucker it might be an idea to leave it more than a couple of days after you had images of child sexual abuse up for hours. Just a thought.

This! Mumsnet doesn't have to generate content because we do it for them for free. Charging us to generate content that benefits them seems very cheekyfuckerish.

Reluctant to pay for something I can't reliably access tho.
Or will it magically work if I pay?