An update on Ad blockers

[JustineMumsnet]

We wanted to give you a heads up that we will shortly introduce additional software designed to prevent the use of ad blockers. So, if you're using an ad blocker, you'll shortly see a series of prompts asking you to disable it before continuing to browse the site.

We know this is going to cause some annoyance to those of you with ad blockers in place but we do have costs associated with running our platform and the way we meet those is via advertising revenue.

We try to keep the display ads to a minimum (particularly for logged in users) and turn down a lot of the more intrusive ad formats. Nonetheless we do understand that some people find ads really annoying. If you would prefer an ad-free experience, Mumsnet Premium is available as a subscription option for £2.99 a month or £29.99 per year.

The last thing we want is to cause loyal users financial distress, so if you have particular reasons why both seeing ads and paying for Premium is problematic for you, then please do get in touch with us at [email protected] and we’d be happy to look at what we can do to help.

I pay for a sewing forum, much cheaper and no ads. I'm leaving now, hoping that they don't say that we have to disable ad blocker on Gransnet.

They do, tedgran ... the same notices appear on there too

I was on there earlier, didn't see that! Well, that'll stop me wasting time! It's a shame, I enjoy reading other people's viewpoints, and have been following the various tribunals and will really miss them.

Funnily enough, @tedgran, the messages appeared when I first went on it, but haven't when I checked back after your reply

Beats the hell out of me ...

I find they come in waves. Loads together, then none for a while.

That is surely a mistake? If you are paying to not see ads, then you shouldn't be seeing any, surely!

I've now worked out that I can now use Mumsnet (with ads) on Edge browser. It's still totally unusable on Firefox and I cannot work out where/how Firefox is blocking ads. But at least I can use the site again. Just not with my normal browser.

Switched off ad blocker for mumsnet. The site is unusable - clunky, frozen. Masses of white space while ads fail to load, and unable to see posts after the ad is failing to load.

@JustineMumsnet @BeckyAMumsnet @LilyMumsnet I'm sorry but this is crazy. This is my screen at least 50% of the time, (Pic 1,) and if it's not the same ad 3 times all over my screen, it's 3 or 4 flashing ads. (Dotted all around the screen.)

I have reported this before, but nothing has been done about it. I can tolerate the odd advert but why 3 of the same product all at once, covering half the screen?

And then when I refreshed, I got what is on Pic 2. Again, most of the screen taken up with ads. Look at the size of the 'Bladder Worries' ad! Can they be less obtrusive? Thank you.

I really don't mind the ads - it's the cookies I don't like. Why can't we have the ads without the cookies? Oh and paying premium on a payment system I've never heard of (and don't trust) is just asking for trouble.

I feel the same, @Willowkins. However, I still haven't been able to get Mumsnet to work at all with my usual browser (Firefox) so I am currently using Mumsnet on Edge browser but sticking with Firefox for everything else. But I believe cookies are browser specific. I only realised yesterday that this means that the cookies are only tracking my Mumsnet activity, and my normal internet activity on Firefox remains as cookie-free as I want/try to make it. I think this is the case, anyway. It's actually made me much happier about the whole situation.

or rather, the PP can make a decision but their options are stark

Remove ad blocker usage on MN site
or
Stop using MN

@BatchCookBabe are you on a desktop computer or a tablet?

reason I ask is that on my iPad, I can zoom in, which reduces the obtrusive nature of the adverts. I've done a screenshot, where you can see there is an advert on the right side which is quite obtrusive but by zooming in, the focus is more on the posting window than the advert. I've been doing this for years, I've never used a adblocker before and which makes my User experience of MN reasonably bearable.

i trust MN is not going to remove the functionality to zoom in, otherwise they will be in danger of excluding thousands of users with disabilities and I don't think that's their intention.

I've done neither! The site still works, for now.

I read mumsnet with Safari on my iPad as my eyes are not up to it on my phone. I had been refreshing the page repeatedly to get rid of the “disable your ad blocker” windows. I changed my settings so that I had 100 posts per page in stead of my usual 25 as it meant I saw the windows less frequently. It was manageable but irritating.

Then I thought I would try Chrome. No windows! I must not have ad blocker on. Then I saw ads on the right side of my screen. This, I can live with. But I was so happy that the ads weren’t intrusive that I didn’t realize until just now that it takes forever for a page to load.

In general I have definitely been using mumsnet less since this issue popped up.

I see @daisychain01 has already posted about iPads.

i trust MN is not going to remove the functionality to zoom in, otherwise they will be in danger of excluding thousands of users with disabilities

They wouldn't be the first. Checks emails - yes 122 in the past 5 years to various companies about accessibility issues on their websites. (I reset my counter back to zero during the pandemic)

I get the "Disable Adblock" message when though the adblocker is disabled. This is Opera, Firefox and Chrome on both my laptop and phone. I give up. I'll try again in a month or so. Even before this, I found the ads here are really intrusive though, if they were static it wouldn't be so bad, but it's an academic point now because I'm not even able to see the ads if I wanted to.

The combination of Chrome browser and iPad makes for a reasonably civilised user experience. I get that people are browsing on devices other than an iPad, eg Samsung, iPhone but it's a lot better on a tablet.

IDK what it is with Mumsnet but there's so many cookies that then affect other sites where I don't usually see ads but I will after I've been on Mumsnet unless I remember to wipe cookies and clear cache/data first. I don't like how hot my phone gets, within minutes, when using Mumsnet. I googled and all that comes up is a page full of info/articles/forums etc saying if your phone is overheating it's probably malware. So that's concerning.

Then I see people here saying they're running ad blockers but have made a exception for Mumsnet to allow ads but Mumsnet is still telling them to disable the ad blocker. Surely that confirms that whatever Mumsnet is doing in the background, it involves trying to infiltrate deeper into your device? (For what reason???). Otherwise how would Mumsnet even know that someone is running an ad blocker, if they've ticked a box to say Mumsnet is excluded from it?

Thank you. x
I have tried to cope, but turning my ad blocker off, is
A...really unpleasant with all the flashing images, and..
B...opening my laptop up to possible infections. The advice is really it's best not to.

"While it is technically possible to disable your ad blocker on certain sites, it's generally not recommended as it can expose you to increased tracking, invasive ads, and potential malware risks, even on seemingly safe websites; it's best to only disable it temporarily on trusted sites if absolutely necessary and to be cautious about the potential security implications."

I will stick to the other previously mentioned forum, 'Chaotic Musings'where I can post in peace and be better protected.

@BeckyAMumsnet @LilyMumsnet @JustineMumsnet If I pay the subscription will I then be able to run an adblocker? It isn't just seeing the ads that's the problem, it's the data harvesting.

At this moment I'm not getting any of the 'turn off your ad blocker or pay' popups. It's a genuine relief, now I can spend too much time on Mumsnet again :-)

I would pay, after all these years using Mumsnet it's fair, but I can't. In the NL you almost always have to be working to be eligible for a credit card and due to disability I can't, and I can't get one.

Secondly after the hacks (my info was stolen some time ago, got a message from Mumsnet) and the awful CSA there's a real trust issue too.

I think the root of the issue is that it's "AI" powered, so as good as one would expect.

https://www.getadmiral.com/adblock-recovery