Can't browse Zazzle when logged out unless I disable ad blocker?

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I just went to do a couple searches when logged out and using a different browser to see what comes up, and I got a message  “Access to this page has been denied”, and “Please check your network connection or disable your ad blocker.” My network connection is fine. The older “Press and Hold” bot notification is grayed out. Has anyone else had this happen? If so how long has it been this way? (I haven’t browsed this way in a while.)

If this is what happens when new customers try to search and browse when they have an ad blocker enabled, it’s troubling. If I were a prospective customer and this happened to me I’d be long gone and looking at another site.

20230207ad-blocker.png
20230207ad-blocker.png1818×1530 129 KB

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@buxmontweb  

From the help files—-
<https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/220433767-Troubleshooting-the-Most-Common-Zazzle-Website-Complications>

1. Use up-to-date versions of browsers

2. Clear your browser’s private data, cache & cookies  

3. Adjust security settings & pop-up blockers in your browser

  • Lower your security settings to “Medium” or “Default”
  • Add $zurl to the list of trusted sites.
  • Disable any pop-up blockers you have in place
  • Add $zurl to the list of sites that can display pop-ups.
  • Disable any spam blockers.

4. Restart your computer 

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@buxmontweb  wrote:

If this is what happens when new customers try to search and browse when they have an ad blocker enabled, it’s troubling. If I were a prospective customer and this happened to me I’d be long gone and looking at another site.

 

I agree. I blacklist sites that force me to turn off AB. I have had too many sites throw malware at me immediately after I turn off AB, including Forbes and  Business Insider who both started doing it and then stopped after their traffic nosedived. Forcing users to turn off AB is a bad idea in my experience and opinion. 

I only turned off my AB for Z because I participate here.  I remember it potentially causing problems in creating products for me so I turned it off.  However I just turned it back on for Z and haven’t gotten a warning. 

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Ugh - and they expect customers to do this before they can even shop?

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@buxmontweb  
Thanks for posting your findings. I totally agree with you, if I were a customer (instead of a shop) and had to figure out any Ad Blocker just to shop, I would immediately leave and shop elsewhere, it would not be worth the stress.
As to the answer, I only try to help other shops by posting the answers from Z that I find, I’m really glad I don’t have to agree with them.

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It’s not about running an ad blocker, but how strict you’re being. If you’re blocking so many things that you appear to be a bot then you may get treated like one. We’re currently doing our best to let the good guys in while keeping the bad guys out. It’s a tricky balance.

I can confirm that running Ad Block Plus with default filters does not negatively impact the user experience. If you’re tweaking settings or blocking all the things then expect the internet to be broken from time to time. I’ll leave it to you to find the right balance of user experience.

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@Scott  I’m running just the basic Ad Block Plus in my Firefox browser with the default filters and that’s where it happened. That’s what I use when I’m trying to emulate a customer shopping without being logged in. I haven’t tried again so don’t know if it will keep on happening.

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