PSA: WordPress: We Need Ads, Lots and Lots of Ads

~ Bookstooge

Beginning in April, WordPress began an experiment with adding 3-5 times as many ads as normal to the free sites. Ostensibly it was supposed be towards making them more self-sufficient, but I remain skeptical. Here is the link to the Help Forums where members began bringing this to the attention of the staff, and staff’s response.

Help Forum: More Ads Than Normal

I’ve been keeping an eye on the thread and it appears that what is happening is going to be the new normal for all free blogs. So not only are “new” free blogs being neutered but all free blogs are going to end up looking like clickbait hotels. There are screen shots within the thread above to verify that assertion.

Much like other changes that WordPress has made, they are doing all that they can to see what the outcry is and then walk it back until it subsides. But make no mistake, if you are on a free plan at wordpress, they now consider you excess baggage and will be using and treating you accordingly.

Adblockers on most browsers should help mitigate this, but with more and more people using their phones to view the internet, it’s not as simple as it used to be. Just be aware that this is happening. I recommend taking a look at your own site in incognito mode (or whatever the anonymous version is called in your browser of choice) to see if it has happened to you yet.

72 thoughts on “PSA: WordPress: We Need Ads, Lots and Lots of Ads”

  1. What if there ads I don’t want to be shown on my blog? My blog my choice.
    I notices ads on blogs hosted by Blogger. I don’t know if their doing the same thing or not. I’m not doubting that there are ads on my blog.

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    1. I believe ads are supposed to be reportable, but some of the people in the reported otherwise.

      Good to know about blogger. I guess I’ve always used adblockers n didn’t notice them.

      Glad you don’t notice the ads on your blog.

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                1. Nope, it’s not that. I just visited Jeroen using an incognito window with all my adblockers disabled.
                  What happens if you disable your adblockers (right click, disable and refresh the page)?

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    3. So, I looked at your site in incognito mode using chrome. Yeah, those ads are BAAAAAD.

      Now, using regular chrome with adblockplus and Ublock Origin, I see nothing. So that is good anyway.

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  4. I had noticed the “ad invasion” that started recently and even though it did not bother me greatly (there must be something Zen-like in my approach to WP – LOL) I had not thought about ad blockers. A little search taught me that my default browser (Vivaldi) has an integrated ad blocker which I had not enabled yet: I corrected the situation and now the ads are gone, even when I visit my blog without logging in. One more reason to be happy I chose Vivaldi as my browser… 🙂

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          1. Could be. My guess is that they’re basically clueless and just are trying stuff.

            (There’s an exclamation point in a circle beliw your remark. Is that you or some new WP feature?)

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      2. Vivaldi is the “heir” of Opera, another light-but-full-of-functionalities browser that, sadly, lost its way. I can recommend you give it a spin and see how it works for you – one of the added bonuses is that it has a version for phones as well, and it’s highly customizable. And there is a big community ready to help if needed 🙂

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  6. Huh, good to know. There’s little I hate more than being bombarded by ads when I hit a site. I was thinking of changing to WP for the longest time, but I’ll just stay with Blogger I guess (even though it’s a clustermess at times too)…

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    1. Yeah, as much as I like the social side of wp (notifications, link backs, etc), this drive of theirs to completely monetize blogging goes against my grain.

      If there was a way to export to blogger from wp I might give switching some serious thought. But there isn’t, so I’m stuck at wp for a bit.

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    1. Oh man, yeah. those are the worst. A couple of the torrent sites I frequent have those and I had to go through and specifically block them with the blockers I used because they were trying to get around them. Grrrrrr.

      Makes me wonder what WP thinks it is going to eventually accomplish.

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  8. Thanks for the heads-up, mate. I use adblocker so I never see any ads on any of the sites I follow and read on here. I just checked my site using incognito mode with no blocker and there were only ads at the bottom of my posts. Those blocks of 9 small square ads a bit like comic panels. The ones you always see on websites. Btw, have you ever tried looking at comic book review sites like Bleeding Fool. It’s an Ad Apocalypse!

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    2. I just checked your batman comic post (with the cover of hte guy who looks like a bug) and there were 3 or 4 ads within the post itself. So it does seem to be an entire wp thing and not just experimental anymore 😦

      I don’t think I’ve ever actually visited a comic book review site. I don’t read enough of them to warrant the time.

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  10. Ad blockers shmad blockers, my brain has just learned to filter it all out. Day in day out were inundated with ads everywhere and everything we do, I think it’s achieving the opposite of what advertisers want, people just get better at ignoring it.

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    1. I agree. One way or another, people are filtering them out and ignoring them. And when they can’t filter them out, it makes them angry, not the mood you want buyers to be in…

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  11. I use Brave brower on pc and mobile. Mobile, I haven’t added any adblock extensions. Visited Jeroen’s site on mobile and had no ads. Ditto for PC, although I have adblocker and ublock extensions. /shrug./

    Hey, maybe we should all move to twitter!

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  12. I use Brave with Shields on and AdBlock+, and that solves most of the problems. I don’t see ads on Jeroen’s or Bart’s blog. We’re also paying for our blog, because the ads at the bottom of posts in the free tier were just ugh – maybe it was just my luck but any time I did a blind test on a phone I’d see either something about gastric surgery or overly friendly and scantily clad girls, or vaping 😉

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    1. So a workaround (adblockers) might work. But hte problem is WP increasing the ad numbers dramatically. Will they change so if an adblocker is detected the page won’t load? That’s happened for other places :-/

      I believe they are trying to drive people into the paid plans. What I think IS going to happen is that they are going to drive people away.

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      1. Oh, I agree. WP is trying to squeeze us all for the maximum amount of money, and they’re becoming increasingly heavy-handed about it. The main problem I see is there doesn’t seem to be much in terms of alternatives… 😕

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  13. I exclusively use WP only on my pc now with add block, deleted all the apps of my phone. That way I am surprised by any and all notifications I get when I open WP in the Browser.

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    1. Yep, that’s why I have the paid plan too. I don’t want anyone who follows me to feel like I’m trying to sell them something. It’s also why I don’t have that “buy me a coffee” thing or any other “give me money” related content on my site. This is MY hobby, so “I” pay for it, not the poor saps I’ve suckered in to following me 😉

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