Why am I seeing low-quality adverts on FreeUKGenealogy websites?
We've had a few people get in touch recently asking why some of the adverts they see on our websites don't seem very relevant, and in some cases feel a bit... low quality.
The answer usually comes down to one simple choice: whether or not you accept personalised advertising via cookies.
What's the difference?
When you visit our sites, you're asked whether you're happy to accept cookies. One of the ways we use them is to allow our partners to determine which adverts you may see: in other words, whether or not you’ll receive personalised adverts. If you accept cookies, the ads you’ll see will be personalised ads, since you’ll enable advertisers to show you content based on your interests (for example, genealogy services, books, or things you've searched for elsewhere).
If you decline cookies, you’ll still see ads, but advertisers are no longer able to tailor what you see.
That second option is absolutely fine, and entirely your choice. However, it does have an unintended side effect.
Why do the ads look worse?
Advertisers try to show their ads to people who are likely to be interested. If personalisation is switched on, they can target those audiences more precisely.
If personalisation is switched off, that targeting isn't possible. As a result advertisers will show ads “blindly”, i.e. the ads that appear are often more generic, or sometimes the kind of "clickbait" content many people dislike.
So it's not that we are choosing to show poorer adverts. It's due to how the advertising ecosystem works behind the scenes.
An example of a low-quality advertisement
Why do we show ads at all?
FreeBMD, FreeCEN, FreeREG, and (soon) FreePRO are free to use and always will be. However, keeping it free for you has a cost
Advertising is our main source of income and helps us to:
- keep the websites running
- maintain and improve the data
- support our volunteers and infrastructure
Without it, we wouldn't be able to provide access to over 500 million records for free.
At the same time, we know that advertising can affect how the site feels to use. We are committed to finding the right balance between generating the income we need and providing a good experience for our users. We are actively testing and finding ways to improve how adverts are displayed, with the aim of making them less intrusive while keeping our services sustainable.
An example of a better quality advertisement
What can you do?
You are always in control of your preferences. If you are seeing adverts that feel irrelevant or poor quality, you may wish to review your cookie settings and consider allowing personalised ads. Many users find this results in more relevant and less intrusive advertising.
If you prefer not to, that's completely fine too. We respect that choice, and we'll continue working to improve the experience as much as we can within those constraints.
We’d love your feedback
We are actively exploring ways to improve both the user experience and how advertising appears on the site. If you have thoughts, please do get in touch via the Contact form.