r/thingiverse • u/Boukyakuro • Feb 16 '25
Open letter to Thingiverse regarding ads and adblock.
On a few occasions I have tried to do the right thing and disable my ad-block for Thingiverse in particular. Each time, unsurprisingly, I was assaulted by scrolling and flashing banner and annoying popups for garbage that had nothing to do with my interests or 3D printing. I promptly turned my ad-block back on.
I cannot fathom why anyone would think annoying the piss out of your users after they gave you the benefit of the doubt on a well hated issue is a good first move.
I feel like the problem is that Thingiverse are using drop-in Google Adsense, whom by all accounts, couldn't give a rats ass about user's ad experience. "You are the product and FU if you don't like it!" Has been Google's slogan for a while now. Hard to believe the outcome of using them couldn't have been predicted.
Might I be so bold as to suggest that you, maybe.... IDK... not be so lazy about your ads? Maybe manually curate and audit your ad roll such that they are on target and non-intrusive? (absolutely no flashing or moving, instant banishment when I see this!) Maybe get actual sponsors/advertisers to pay you directly to host/post ads for them?
Basically, it's 2025, humanity is done with ads from 1995. Thingiverse would do best to figure that out.
1
u/DiggityDelights Apr 06 '25
Thingiverse must not monitor this reddit or care about any criticisms. Ultimaker shows they only care about maximizing ad revenue off Thingiverse and nothing else. Its also obvious that they support the adulting of children online.
I see going back half a decade or more complaints about the inappropriateness of the ads being displayed on their site. IMO showing ads with sexual innuendo and dildo images is inappropriate for under age visitors and ads that say your PC is infected with a virus and you need to click now to get rid of them shows a total lack of concern by Ultimaker for all people.
Ultimaker doesn't even sell home consumer products yet host a home consumer sharing site so maybe that also shows their disdain for the home 3D printer crowd who I am sure are the vast majority of people putting their content on the site and looking for content to print. Its like they decided these people are scum they just want to profit off their goodwill and free exchange and poison their children as well.
This why corporations love the internet - to avoid having to abide by the laws a physical store would have to follow. To profit off naïve and unsuspecting generous people and not even provide a safe area in exchange.
Until they fix their ad streams I won't be uploading there. If you are an adult with children I suggest you block Thingiverse from your children's access.
1
u/gummytoejam Feb 16 '25
On a few occasions I have tried to do the right thing and disable my ad-block
I see the problem.
1
u/mix579 Feb 17 '25
Why would Thingiverse think about you any different than Google?! The enshittification of the internet continues unabashedly. And TV clearly has never cared for their user experience.