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198

Massive Advertisement Popup in Proton (Update: Response from Proton enclosed) (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by CatZoomies@lemmy.world to c/protonprivacy@lemmy.world

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I'm quite angry at this. I've used Mullvad VPN without any obtrusive ads, with a clean interface that worked very well.

I stumbled upon a new Proton plan and decided I'd pay and sign up to give it a go to meet my growing needs. After turning on my computer, I'm greeted with a massive pop up advertisement that takes up ~30% of my screen. While scanning settings, I do not see an easy way to disable these promotional ads.

I feel like I've gone back in time and am using Norton software that I got with my HP Pavilion Windows XP pc.

I did a quick Internet search and see there's a Reddit post from a year ago where a user complained about the same thing, but no solution was provided. If I find anything I'll update this post. But right now I'm quite angry, and I'm venting because this is my first reaction to seeing this crap. I'm paying for a service and the last thing I want to see are pop up ads.

I'm going to have a serious think about whether or not I should cancel my subscription and instead just keep my Mullvad.

EDIT:

I finished checking Proton VPN's settings and there is no option to disable promotional ads. I'll contact Proton support and see what they advise. Will revert after I hear back from them and complete the Support interaction.

EDIT 2: I posted a reflective comment below, but I figure I'll update this post. I first made this post shortly after I woke up, and my reaction was anger. Now that it's been some time and I have had breakfast, my coffee, and been at work for a while, I realise I shouldn't have reacted that way. I'm more disappointed than angry. I get it if Proton wants to have a pop up that appears once around the Black Friday sales day, which is fine. But at least Steam lets me disable pop up promotions. Why can't Proton? If they won't add a toggle to disable those, then fine I get it - but I only want to appear once. Or at least embed a banner in the Proton app, or just have an "Offers" button. I pay for a service, I don't want pop ups as I personally feel they're hostile to the User experience. Why should that feature exist when Mullvad's UI is seamless, intuitive, and has no pop up ads? Anyway, I'm an adult and I reacted like I'm still a kid. Need to learn from this type of thing and be a better person - sorry, I'm having a reflective introspective moment here that no one should care about except me ha ha.

EDIT 3: Another user recommended I submit a feature request to improve Proton, which I have done so.

Here is where I posted and voted on my idea request:

"Add Settings toggle to disable pop up promotional ads from Proton (e.g., Black Friday promo)" - https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/48959543-pop-up-notifications-in-the-proton-vpn-application#comments

And here is another idea request I found from someone else who posted something similar a few weeks ago on oct 14th, although their request is to just disable pop up ads entirely:

"Pop-up notifications in the Proton VPN application, specifically those promoting Proton Duo" - https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/48959543-pop-up-notifications-in-the-proton-vpn-application#comments

I think the suggestion here is that if you're a Proton user and if this bothers you, it might be worth commenting and voting on my idea request to help with visibility to the Proton dev team.

I'll post a final update once I complete my support interaction with proton support.

FINAL EDIT:

I included a screenshot with all identifiable information redacted for both Proton and myself. I guess two Zendesk support tickets were created for this issue. While you can review the full details in the responses, the summary from Proton is simply as follows:

We have the ability to opt out of promotional communications over email by logging into your Proton online account.
Disabling promotional pop ups in Proton VPN (and perhaps other Proton apps - I only have VPN) is not a feature in the application
You can submit and vote on feature requests in the UserVoice platform they setup.

Ultimately, the only way we can request this change is by voting for it on the UserVoice platform. If this issue is important to you, scroll up and click on those Uservoice.com links I provided and vote on those features. Also helps to add a comment on that page as well.

As for me, I think me feeling like my reaction to cancel is brash (as I previously shared my feelings to this issue in an earlier update yesterday. I'll certainly keep my subscription simply because I've only had it for a small time frame and I have not fully tried out the service. Unless Proton VPN blows me away with features that I can't get in any other VPN, I don't believe I'll renew. I will most likely let my subscription expire and then go back to Mullvad since they give a fantastic VPN app with things that are not hostile to the user experience. If Proton commits to adding the feature I'm looking for, I may consider renewing or possibly exploring their other services.

Thanks for everyone chiming in with their thoughts. Hope you learned something today (???)! And I'll leave you with one final thing - remember to be kind to each other. Sure I reacted over this issue with anger, but I was kind to the support people at Proton because it's certainly not their fault. And most importantly, I had a chance to reflect and realise my anger at the situation was immature and I hope that I tucked this away and learned from it. Remember to forgive yourself like I did. The world needs more kindness - be the change you want to see in the world. Alright, enough of this positivity crap. This is just a post about a VPN service, not a feel good moment. :)

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[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 47 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I think your first reaction was fine. Putting up with these things is part of the enshitification to me. companies want customers then keep them happy and don't make them angry.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yeah I mean I guess you're right. I just don't like to be angry. I want to get to a point where I can have a more measured reaction and be emotionally more mature when things bother me.

The root cause of the issue is certainly justified of course! I don't want pop up ads! I said good bye to those things in the Windows XP days. Come on, Proton, what are you doing? Let us opt out

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

I understand that. I feel the same way but also feel like the way everything is going is making it harder and harder to keep cool.

[–] mayo@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I appreciate the updates. I've been in the same place. It's all small beans but on top of everything else in life these little things can put me over the edge. Proton has an aggressive advertising model and it's turned me away from their products.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I hear ya. I'm in a bit of a tricky and conflicted position here because I know obviously companies need to advertise. And Proton switched to the non-profit model in June 2024 and established the Proton Foundation (https://proton.me/blog/proton-non-profit-foundation). I was hoping this announcement would help ease back their aggressive advertising.

They need money, and employees don't work for free. They have a lot of people to pay. My compromise is if they can limit the ads that turn people off: pop ups and annoyances. If there's a big sale coming up, I welcome them embedding a banner in their app to say "Hey, check out this offer!". That's totally fine with me. If I like a service, I'll explore it more and pay for it. But once it gets too hostile, I'm immediately turned off and start looking elsewhere.

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 weeks ago

Called it a few times before and its getting increasingly obvious with every month. Proton has entered the spiraling slide into enshittification.

[–] nitefox@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

Remember when they put some offers for education which was a shitty discount for one month of subscription?

[–] StarlightDust@lemmy.blahaj.zone 43 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Email them at support@protonmail.zendesk.com. Hopefully if enough complain, they will add a toggle.

They also have a community cli client where the one example of a nag message is easy enough to remove on line 80 of cli.py https://github.com/jonasjancarik/protonvpn-cli-community/

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks dude. I've already created a ticket in their Zendesk system to inquire if there is a way to permanently disable it. I'm hopeful their support is staffed by Support engineers rather than customer service help desk techs.

[–] Scolding7300@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

https://protonmail.uservoice.com/ Might be more visible to the product managers in terms of demand

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I saw another user posted about UserVoice, which is linked officially as a Community feedback forum for Proton.

I created this feature request: https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/49046906-add-settings-toggle-to-disable-pop-up-promotional

And while browsing, I also stumbled upon this one created on Oct 14th: https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/48959543-pop-up-notifications-in-the-proton-vpn-application

[–] ReluctantZen@feddit.nl 35 points 2 weeks ago

That's pretty excessive, yeah. Especially if you're a paying user, which you are.

[–] Jerry@feddit.online 22 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You might want to include @protonprivacy@mastodon.social

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Good point. I'm not sure how to do that I only use Lemmy in the Fediverse, but when I get some downtime I'll consider looping in their official Mastodon account (I assume this is their official account).

Meanwhile I'll await eventual response from the Support ticket I filed with them.

[–] Jerry@feddit.online 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I believe in Lemmy, in replies (but not in the original message), including a Fediverse ID sends the reply to that address. So I hope they'll come take a look. Yes, it's officially their account.

I agree with your annoyance. Good luck!

[–] Xanatos@mastodon.gamedev.place 4 points 2 weeks ago

@Jerry @CatZoomies As a mastodon user I can tell you that the account is not clickable so I do not know if it is really linked.

@protonprivacy

Just added it again as an Mastodon user. Hope this helps

[–] Scolding7300@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Add a request through proton's uservoice, so it's visible and people can actually vote on it https://protonmail.uservoice.com/

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Great call! I submitted an idea request.

My submitted idea under a throwaway username:

"Add settings toggle to disable pop up promotional ads from Proton (e.g., Black Friday promo)" - https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/932836-proton-vpn/suggestions/49046906-add-settings-toggle-to-disable-pop-up-promotional

And interestingly I found another user that posted something almost a month ago, too. Looks like I'm not the only one who is concerned about this:

[–] Tazerface@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I voted for both and picked "critical"

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Thank you so much for voting on the idea! I'm hopefully they'll consider a good compromise and let us at least have a settings toggle so we can opt out.

By the way bro what kind of name is Tazerface? :D Now I'm in the mood to rewatch Guardians of the Galaxy

[–] Tazerface@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

That is my favourite scene in all the MCU.

[–] Ballissle@lemmy.zip 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Keep us updated

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's the plan! And my first reaction today when I made that post was anger. After I've had breakfast and a coffee and am working (don't tell my boss I'm on Lemmy), I realise I'm overreacting.

My first response shouldn't be anger, but it's just frustrating and I hate ads, especially when I pay for a service.

Now that I've had time to think about it, I'm really just disappointed. If this pop up appears once during the Black Friday era - fine, I get it. They want to make money. But I'd rather have a small banner appear in their VPN app or an "Offers/Promo" button. I just don't want pop ups and I refuse to accept that when their competitor, Mullvad, doesn't do that.

Sorry, I'm just having a reflective moment and I decided I'd do that in the comment to your comment ha ha. :)

[–] Ballissle@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's totally fair. I had the same pop up appear today and yes it's really no big deal and quick to just close but we absolutely should have the option to not get promo ads especially that appear on our desktops in a huge panel. A small note in the apps is fine if out of the way.

It is also fair to do this if the user isn't paying for the service currently. Then ads are expected. But if I have an active sub, I should not be getting ads forced at all.

Side note though, I am glad I saw this ad as I was thinking of switching from just vpn to ultimate as I started switching my emails over to proton and would also like the drive storage. So this will come in handy. Do you know when the promo ends?

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I couldn't really find the date when the promo ends, but this appears to be the landing site for their black friday promos:

https://proton.me/mail/black-friday

[–] Sunny 11 points 2 weeks ago

Completely understand your frustration with this.. This isn't their first rodeo when it comes to these popup sales either.. I know there have been multiple other posts about this here on Lemmy previously. Anyway keep us posted, I've done my part and upvoted the uservoice post 👍

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That must feel shitty, especially since it costs twice as much as Mullvad.

[–] Cyberjin@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Comparing apple and oranges. One has more services

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Such as ads?

[–] nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

Drive, Email, Calendar, and Password Manager...?

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[–] N0x0n@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

They shouldn't bother paying customers... At least they could show some recommendations when your subscriptions is nearly at the end of it's terms.

"Hello dear customer, we are happy to have you on board, however your subscription is ending soon, if you're happy with our services here are some recommendations if you want to renew your subscription with us

Family pacakage 1 price
Package 2 price
Whatever 3 price

On contrary wouldn't you mind to give us any feedback on why you're leaving us or how/what we could improve?

https://proton.domain.org/

Thank you"

Something along the lines :/.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yep totally. I think that's the way to go. Granted this is the first time I'm using "Proton" services and also that I'm paying for their VPN. I imagine they send you emails like this to give you a heads up your subscription is expiring.

What you wrote though is exactly what I want to see. It's a non-annoyance and expected. I do know they have bills to pay and a lot of employees that won't work for free. So what I would appreciate from their apps are no pop ups. Give me an embedded banner in the app when you have a sale. Make an "Offers" button animated or wiggle/shake to alert the user there is a cool sale going on. I just don't want pop ups, especially when they take up 30% of my screen real estate. I would not have been mad at all if there was a tick box that said "Don't show offers again" in that pop up window. I would have said, "cool, I can turn this stupid thing off" and never would have made this post on Lemmy nor engaged Proton support because I would know they consider the experience of their users.

[–] nope@jlai.lu 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If I were using the free version, I'd accept self ads

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Right! I think if I was a free user, yeah I'd be annoyed that I got a huge pop up. But I'd accept that - I'm using a service for free and benefiting from it entirely.

As a paid user if that pop up appears, there better be a tick box right below that ad that gives me the option to tick "Don't show promotional pop ups again". And if it is not in the pop up window, I better see a toggle in Settings. If it did exist, I would have been annoyed it popped up but would have been relieved I could disable them in perpetuity. I never would have made this post on Lemmy if that were the case! :)

But they have devs to pay, managers, customer service reps, SRE, infrasture providers, vendors, marketing, etc. Embed a "Sale" banner in the app that doesn't annoy or take up significant UX space. I want to see an "Offers" or "Sale" button that wiggles/shakes/animated. Things like that are necessary because they need to make money. I'm okay with that! But oof those pop ups - gosh I hate them.

[–] Neon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I think it's not that bad if it would save you money over your current subscription.

Anyways, unrelated, but: Amazing wallpaper. I absolutely adore the pixelart style. Do you still have the Original?

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Saving money is always good for me. I'm willing to pay more for an excellent service. When I was younger and money was very tight for me, I went with the cheap crap and dealt with frustrations. I'll continue to use the VPN service I paid for, and unless it totally blows me away with wonderful features and greater uptime than Mullvad, I most likely will not renew with them. Mullvad worked exceptionally well, but at least a handful of times a week I would get connection errors and would need to switch to a new IP (a minor annoyance).

Thanks! So this wallpaper is embedded in "Wallpaper Engine" from Steam. I don't have the original, but the artist for these wallpapers is "ITZAH". Here's their Steam community workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/id/1tzah/

Edit: I snipped a screenshot of what it looks like. This is not saved in a proper wallpaper desktop resolution since I simply just used a snip of my desktop wallpaper. A formative game from my younger years - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

[–] secretlyaddictedtolinux@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I've missed extremely discounted sales for services I like and have been frustrated about it before. It seems fine for protonvpn to do this just once but the should also just add a toggle.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

100% agree with you dude. As customers, we do want to know about sales. But companies need to meet us in the middle. Give us the option to opt out. And in your app, embed a non-annoying advertisement about your sale.

Show a sales banner that does not obstruct the functional UI or take up signficiant real estate. Have a "Deals" or "Offers" button that is animated - wiggle, shake, whatever! That's the best compromise for the user experience.

Steam has pop ups, but you can opt out of that pop up that shows your Recommendation queue in a carousel you can click through to see different games. I think that's cool! But I have the option to disable it and so I have done so. If I want to see my recommendations, I can look at the main page and simply click left and right through them to discover new games.

We need Proton to think about the user experience and give us the option to opt out of those things.

[–] hightrix@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Thank you for this. I’m shopping for VPNs at the moment and was considering Proton. I will remove them from consideration. This is not ok even a little bit.

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

No prob dude. Ideally I hope they take the idea requests I submitted to heart. It’s a good service but the hostile ad needs to be stopped as it’s not okay.

If they respond to us and make these changes to listen to their communities, I think I’d be more inclined to recommend them.

For now I’ll ride out my subscription and then I’ll return to Mullvad.

[–] confusedwiseman@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago

Don’t worry. If you upgrade to a premium plan, you won’t be eligible to get any discounts anymore. Nothing offered to existing customers even if purchasing annually.

Sincerely, Frustrated Proton Family plan subscriber

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