Products · Broad category
Online ads
Raised as a usability problem by 672 people on Hacker News over 20 years (2007–2026), in 583 threads.
This is a broad category rather than one product, so its issues aren't ranked on the home page.
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- 6Dark patterns push clicks onto adsUnreviewed
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- 8Ads open tabs people never requestedUnreviewed
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- 5Ads open tabs people never requestedUnreviewed
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- 7Dark patterns push clicks onto adsUnreviewed
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- 11Closing popups resets scroll positionUnreviewed
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Ads are slow and distracting when readingUnreviewed
20072026- Most people's web browsing is cluttered with intrusive ads making pages overwhelming2026-08-15
- Pages are cluttered with so many ads they feel like a slot machine2026-08-15
- Web pages without ad blocking are so unusable they seem broken2026-07-20
Ads placed where accidental clicks are likely, hiding close buttonsUnreviewed
20072026- Banner ads disguise themselves as captchas or sign-in prompts, tricking people into clicking2026-09-01
- Tiny close button moves position and vanishes quickly, so users miss it2026-08-05
- Pop-ups are hard to close and layouts shift so people click ads by mistake2026-02-06
Ads shift content, making articles hard to readUnreviewed
20072026- Animated or video ads make it impossible to focus on reading the text2026-03-22
- Ads use bright colors and embedded-text images that are hard to read and access2026-03-04
- Ads break the flow, so finding the article content is a hunt2026-01-11
Ads autoplay sound and pop up over music and browsingUnreviewed
20072026- Ads cause terrible layout, poor performance, and interruptions when sound plays2026-05-21
- Ads occupy much of the screen, play loud audio, and open extra pages2025-09-09
- Autoplay ads take bandwidth and hijack speakers, interrupting whatever the user is doing2025-09-09
Ads open tabs people never requestedUnreviewed
20072026- Ads often send users to the app store page when they try to close them2026-01-06
- Pages become clogged with ads that block the interface, making them unpleasant to use2023-03-20
- Ads kept popping up and redirecting, so dialup pages took ages to become usable2022-03-11
Dark patterns push clicks onto adsUnreviewed
20072026- Accidentally clicks ads a month because of dark patterns2026-08-13
- Intrusive ads and dark patterns make sites feel slow and hard to use2025-11-11
- Ads redirect users to fake prize pages and vibrate their phones2025-10-01
Unskippable video ads longer than ten seconds cannot be dismissedUnreviewed
20072026- Forced 30-60 second video ads, and closing one opens the Play Store anyway2025-04-09
- Players are forced to watch video ads that are irrelevant to them2025-02-10
- Ads cut in seconds early or late, interrupting content, and skipping back replays ads2024-01-26
Mobile ads interrupt tasks and eat bandwidthUnreviewed
20072026- Ads interrupt browsing and tax CPU and network resources2023-12-21
- Ad-supported apps constantly interrupt and push users into other offers2020-08-13
- Ads insert delays between user actions and the desired behavior, slowing interaction2018-11-22
Closing popups resets scroll positionUnreviewed
20072026- Pop-ups and shifting page content cause accidental clicks on the wrong link2022-10-24
- Giant pop-up covers the screen and back button resets navigation2018-08-02
- Accidental scroll past story end triggers a full-screen advert popup2015-10-05
Browsing on iPad without an ad blocker is full of adsUnreviewed
20072026- Browsing on iPad without an ad blocker is awful because of ads2022-08-29
- Surfing without blockers is painful because of ads and popups2020-01-23
- Browsing without an ad blocker on iPhone is an unwatchable nightmare2018-08-07
Ads mimic system dialogs, making people fear for their computerUnreviewed
20072026- Ads imitate operating system dialogs, tricking users into tapping them2016-05-26
- Ads mimic system dialogs and minimize the browser, making users think their computer is at risk2015-08-10
- Ads look like download or next buttons, so users accidentally install sketchy software2014-11-02
Pop-ups, pop-unders, audio and redirects hinder page useUnreviewed
20072026- Pages are nearly impossible to navigate without an adblocker due to blurred content and pop-ups2023-10-16
- A pop-up hijacks page scrolling, making it almost impossible to reach the mobile site2017-09-10
- Pop-ups, pop-unders, audio and redirects make pages hard to use2014-01-18
Ad tools are confusing and inconsistent across featuresUnreviewed
20072026- Ad management tools are constantly broken, slow, poorly designed, and waste money unexpectedly2026-06-16
- Ad tools are bloated, buggy and loaded with dark patterns2023-04-19
- Ad tools are confusing and inconsistent, a pile of features added rapidly2014-11-28
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 50 complaints
- Banner ads disguise themselves as captchas or sign-in prompts, tricking people into clicking2026-09-01
- Most people's web browsing is cluttered with intrusive ads making pages overwhelming2026-08-15
- Pages are cluttered with so many ads they feel like a slot machine2026-08-15
- Accidentally clicks ads a month because of dark patterns2026-08-13
- Tiny close button moves position and vanishes quickly, so users miss it2026-08-05
- Web pages without ad blocking are so unusable they seem broken2026-07-20
- Site is nearly unusable due to ads, auto-play videos, banners and pop-ups2026-07-20
- Ad management tools are constantly broken, slow, poorly designed, and waste money unexpectedly2026-06-16
- Ads everywhere make the web unusable and cause accidental clicks on sponsored content2026-06-16
- Config pages are a slow, disjointed maze; user needs AI assistants to find things2026-06-12
- Ads that pop up, auto-play, or animate are annoying and slow down scrolling and page loads2026-06-02
- Setting up boosted posts or scheduling takes a maze of clicks and confirmations2026-06-01
- Flashing ads and autoplay videos make pages hard to read; pages reload and lose place2026-05-31
- Ads so large and intrusive that nearly every website became unusable2026-05-29
- Ads cause terrible layout, poor performance, and interruptions when sound plays2026-05-21
- Ads with popups, autoplay video and flashing banners make sites unusable2026-05-21
- Many websites have broken, cluttered UI without uBlock Origin to simplify them2026-04-13
- Ads and analytics slow pages to seconds and interrupt readers with popups2026-03-24
- Animated or video ads make it impossible to focus on reading the text2026-03-22
- Pages covered in ads and popup videos make them unusable2026-03-16
- Flashing, strobing and moving ads trigger the commenter's sensitivity2026-03-13
- Ads use bright colors and embedded-text images that are hard to read and access2026-03-04
- Ads and popups make the web hard to use for elderly relatives2026-02-17
- Pop-ups are hard to close and layouts shift so people click ads by mistake2026-02-06
- Ads block content, slow page loads, and make pages jump around2026-01-22
- Ads break the flow, so finding the article content is a hunt2026-01-11
- Ads use fake progress bars and tiny close buttons, making them hard to dismiss2026-01-10
- Close button is so small that users often tap the ad by mistake2026-01-07
- Small close or skip targets are hard to hit on touchscreens2026-01-07
- Ads pop in and shift the layout, so taps land on unintended ads2026-01-07
- Skip or close button is hidden for seconds and moves to different corners2026-01-06
- Ads often send users to the app store page when they try to close them2026-01-06
- Skip buttons are micro sized, impossible to tap, and some don't work2026-01-06
- Hard to turn off; accepting one enhancement silently enables it with no disable button2025-12-29
- Editing an ad image or video silently re-enables disabled settings like promo codes, site links and related media2025-12-29
- Ads that ran can't be found; pages fail to load and show incomprehensible errors2025-12-29
- Ad dismiss target is so small that taps get mis-clicked, adding steps2025-12-19
- Ads and popups cover the text, and copying text from pages is unreliable2025-12-09
- Close button hidden on near-white background, extra screens and waits before dismissing2025-11-29
- Hiding an ad makes it scroll away very slowly, frustrating the user2025-11-14
- Ads overlap the article, making it very hard to read2025-11-12
- Ads jank in, shift layout, and bombard users with intrusive popups2025-11-11
- Intrusive ads and dark patterns make sites feel slow and hard to use2025-11-11
- Pop-up and animated ads break focus and force hunting for a close button2025-10-03
- Ads redirect users to fake prize pages and vibrate their phones2025-10-01
- Ads jump into view, break page flow, and invite accidental clicks2025-09-29
- Ads cover most of the phone screen and reappear on scrolling, blocking reading2025-09-21
- Sites are so full of ads and shifting content that they are unusable without an ad blocker2025-09-17
- Button wording is overly chatty, so the choices feel like talking to a person rather than giving orders2025-09-16
- Autoplay ads take bandwidth and hijack speakers, interrupting whatever the user is doing2025-09-09