Personalised adverts?

EmpressaurusKitty · 02/04/2025 07:17

SnakesForPM · 02/04/2025 07:12

I'm currently having treatment for an aggressive cancer. The prognosis is pretty good though not certain. Recently, on two occasions, I've had adverts for 'eco coffins' come up on Mumsnet! Is this a coincidence or an algorithm? I have never searched up coffins, as I'm determined to live for a long time yet. It's hugely upsetting for me, thinking the adverts are for me.

I’ve had those ads too. It hadn’t occurred to me until your post how triggering they could be but now I see your point.

Original poster

SnakesForPM · 02/04/2025 07:30

Oh have you? That's good to know, I was upset as wondered if it was because I've been on cancer boards (and generally cancer sites, buying special cancer care type products etc.) I was being paranoid about the algorithms, it felt a bit predatory. Like, 'she's going to die, we could cash in here' 🙁
Thanks for replying

OP posts:

Pantaloony123 · 02/04/2025 07:31

I’ve had them as well without being on any connected threads.

sending hugs xx

Original poster

SnakesForPM · 02/04/2025 07:52

Thank you - obviously just bad timing for me. I've been on MN for 15 years and never seen anything like those adverts. It seemed either prophetic or predatory, both of which felt awful! I'm not sensitive or easily 'triggered' but once I had the idea that these ads were personal, I felt so angry and cross. Are they insensitive as general adverts? It must also be hard for people caring for elderly/terminally ill loved ones, especially children.

OP posts:

EmpressaurusKitty · 02/04/2025 07:54

SnakesForPM · 02/04/2025 07:52

Thank you - obviously just bad timing for me. I've been on MN for 15 years and never seen anything like those adverts. It seemed either prophetic or predatory, both of which felt awful! I'm not sensitive or easily 'triggered' but once I had the idea that these ads were personal, I felt so angry and cross. Are they insensitive as general adverts? It must also be hard for people caring for elderly/terminally ill loved ones, especially children.

They’re definitely insensitive & I'm glad I didn’t get them just after my mum died a couple of years ago.

I’m so sorry about your cancer, OP, and that these ads are giving you stress you could very well do without.

Original poster

SnakesForPM · 02/04/2025 08:28

Thank you. Maybe MN should give that some thought. Thanks for the perspective, it's hard to know!

OP posts:

MNHQ

HebeMumsnet · 02/04/2025 09:34

Morning @SnakesForPM.

We're really sorry to hear about your illness. We hope your treatment goes well.

We're sorry to hear you've been upset by these ads, too and can understand why they might be triggering for lots of people. To that end we try to ensure that ads like this aren't placed on sensitive threads. It may be, however, that rather than being display ads that we've placed ourselves, they're just being 'served up' randomly by a third party ads provider so we have a bit less control over that. Either way though, we'd like to take a look.

We completely understand if not but are you able to tell us any more about the ad? The name of the company for example, and where you were on the site where it popped up. Better still, if anyone is able to grab a screenshot next time they see it, that will enable us to track it down and look into this more quickly. Many thanks for your help but, as we say, we don't want to upset you any further so no pressure. If anyone else is able to provide that info we'd be most grateful.

EmpressaurusKitty · 02/04/2025 09:37

I’ll do that next time I see it, @HebeMumsnet, but I don’t think they’ve been appearing on ‘sensitive threads’ - I’ve just been seeing them randomly.

MNHQ

HebeMumsnet · 02/04/2025 09:38

Thanks @EmpressaurusKitty . Yes, it does sound that way. We'll track it down as soon as we can and have a look.

MNHQ

HebeMumsnet · 02/04/2025 11:31

Hi again, everyone. We've been looking into this a bit further and still haven't found the specific ad discussed here, but here's a bit more info for you that might be of interest.

We think this sounds like it's probably a Google ad rather than 'one of ours'. Most ads on the site are placed by automated systems that use a mix of factors, including browsing history, the content of pages visited, and broader audience trends, rather than targeting individuals based on personal circumstances.

Sometimes, if a user has recently engaged with health-related topics on the internet even in quite a general way, ad algorithms may make incorrect assumptions and display what they think is related content.

While we have filters in place to block certain categories of ads, we don't have direct control over every advert shown. But you can adjust your ad preferences through Google Ad settings, which should reduce the chances of you seeing this kind of content on Mumsnet or other sites.

Let us know if you need any help with that and we can send you some step-by-step advice.

EmpressaurusKitty · 02/04/2025 15:54

We think this sounds like it's probably a Google ad rather than 'one of ours'. Most ads on the site are placed by automated systems that use a mix of factors, including browsing history, the content of pages visited, and broader audience trends, rather than targeting individuals based on personal circumstances.

This is something I’ve started a few threads on in Site Stuff & never had a clear answer on, @HebeMumsnet. I haven’t seen the coffin ad again yet but I know the blue triangle in the corner of an ad means it’s from AdChoices. Most of the ads for Mumsnet have the blue triangle too though, so does that mean they’re AdChoices ads that happen to be promoting MN, rather than ads you’ve put on the site?