Products · Pattern or everyday thing
News website pop-ups and ads
Raised as a usability problem by 43 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 43 threads.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Pop-ups on article page can't be dismissed, blocking readingUnreviewed
20112026- Three or four popups block the article title even with an adblocker2026-05-31
- Article is covered by app prompt and scrolling is blocked until a tiny decline link is clicked2026-04-06
- Pop-up blocks article mid-read and forces newsletter signup2026-01-21
Ads load while scrolling and jump the page, losing placeUnreviewed
20112026- Ads load while scrolling and jump the page, losing the reader's place2026-10-15
- Ads and popups make the article hard to read, forcing a reload and reader mode2026-04-17
- Multiple popups, autoplaying videos and full-banner ads clutter the page2025-09-15
Ad reappears after closing it, making site unusable on mobile ChromeUnreviewed
20112026- Ad reappears after closing it, making the site unusable on mobile Chrome2022-11-11
- Ad blocks the page, the continue link opens another popup, and the timer does nothing2017-06-17
- Big ad must be manually dismissed before the page can be accessed2011-11-23
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 43 complaints
- Ads load while scrolling and jump the page, losing the reader's place2026-10-15
- Article can't be read without signing up2026-06-30
- Three or four popups block the article title even with an adblocker2026-05-31
- Ads and popups make the article hard to read, forcing a reload and reader mode2026-04-17
- Article is covered by app prompt and scrolling is blocked until a tiny decline link is clicked2026-04-06
- Pop-up blocks article mid-read and forces newsletter signup2026-01-21
- Ads are so intrusive that users leave the site and find the story elsewhere2026-01-06
- Full-screen modal and popup dialogs block reading the article immediately after opening2025-11-02
- Multiple popups, autoplaying videos and full-banner ads clutter the page2025-09-15
- Ad disguised as video player opens Apple Pay when user tries to play2025-03-27
- Popups and overlays hide content and the close button is hard to find2024-10-13
- Modals block reading the article, demanding ad blocker disabled and cookies accepted2024-06-05
- Full-screen ad appears instead of the article the user clicked2023-11-09
- Overlay panel covers half the screen, blocking the article text2023-08-31
- Page takeover interrupts scrolling and requires action before reading2023-06-15
- Ad reappears after closing it, making the site unusable on mobile Chrome2022-11-11
- Pop-ups on the article page could not be dismissed, blocking reading2021-12-27
- Ads resize and jump to the top, making it hard to keep scrolling while reading2021-11-19
- Full-page greyed overlay appears after the article has started loading, interrupting reading2021-11-16
- Has to get past several newsletter sign-up prompts before reaching the article2021-04-29
- Cookie preferences take several nested windows with dark patterns and a slow Save2020-01-27
- Ads cover half the screen and cookie policy clicks trigger ad popups2019-12-20
- Sign-in popover blocks reading the article until a workaround is used2019-09-30
- Must dismiss three popups before reading the article on mobile2019-09-29
- Login silently returns to the login page; email login fails, only username works2019-07-06
- Modal popups appear immediately and again on scroll, forcing the reader to close them2019-02-25
- Clicking the X close button navigates away instead of dismissing the popup2018-09-29
- Close icon on subscribe overlay doesn't work; content only reachable via login and back2018-09-28
- Video player pops up and blocks part of the article being read2018-08-16
- Must use an ad-heavy news site to view each tweet in the thread2017-09-17
- Ads block the whole screen and shift text while reading, causing accidental clicks2017-09-14
- Ad blocks the page, the continue link opens another popup, and the timer does nothing2017-06-17
- Subscribe dialog doesn't respond to the close button on iPad2017-01-17
- Page won't scroll; mouse wheel lurches and scrolling breaks behind the donation overlay2016-12-19
- Pop-ups beep and interrupt reading, making the article and about page hard to reach2016-12-13
- Ad slides up mid-scroll, hiding text behind a takeover with tiny misleading prompt2016-11-13
- Newsletter form pops up over the article text being read2016-09-22
- Sign-up layer keeps reappearing every time the reader navigates away from the article2016-05-03
- Pop-up redirects user when they try to close it2016-04-26
- Ads autoplay audio and make page scrolling laggy2015-12-07
- Two overlapping modals must both be closed before reading the article2015-06-25
- Obnoxious popups and paywall block the article when reading2013-07-08
- Big ad must be manually dismissed before the page can be accessed2011-11-23