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Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'?

When requesting use of personal data on websites it's becoming standard now to have an 'Accept All' and 'Reject All'.

If you run a website, what percentage of uses click 'Accept All' and what percentage click 'Reject All'?

( 40 comments | 28 points | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by nottorp on Sunday July 24, 2022 @01:19PM (#32215560)
I click on reject all, if there is no reject all button i do click details and if i don't find a way to turn off everything on the first details page I close the site unread.

Also, if your popup says "we care about your privacy" please remove that lie. If you cared about my privacy you wouldn't track me.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by ratg13 on Monday July 25, 2022 @05:27AM (#32222233)
OP is asking for data that you have collected, not your personal preference.

The preferences of the crowd here are largely irrelevant, as the people that frequent this website are typically not average web users.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by muzani on Sunday July 24, 2022 @07:55PM (#32219041)
Cookies are often used for sessions too, not just tracking. I wish the browser world just tightened up its permissions like the mobile world did.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by rlpb on Sunday July 24, 2022 @08:44PM (#32219372)
If a session is required to service a user's explicit request (eg. "add item to basket" but not "track user for ads") then explicit consent isn't required. The user's explicit request is enough. So there's no conflict.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by muzani on Sunday July 24, 2022 @09:44PM (#32219711)
Ah I wasn't aware of that requirement. I thought the pop up was whenever they use cookies for anything (because that is what they make you believe).
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by jackbrookes on Monday July 25, 2022 @02:48AM (#32221279)
If this was the case, we could just build the cookie consent mechanism into browsers
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by nottorp on Monday July 25, 2022 @05:05AM (#32222111)
Stuff required for the actual functioning of the site is explicitly exempted in the GDPR. Generally speaking, do not take your information from whoever is selling you something... or is selling you.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by ThePhysicist on Sunday July 24, 2022 @12:56PM (#32215294)
Our stats for heyklaro.com are public [1], the acceptance rate is around 50 %. We've always had a dialog with one-click Accept / Reject flow, even before it became officially mandated. We see similar rates for our customers.

1: https://heyklaro.com/demo

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by ponyous on Monday July 25, 2022 @12:41PM (#32226928)
I did some research recently and found 50-60% to be the norm. On top of that if I remember correctly more than 50% of the websites didn’t even respect the choice.

Don’t quote me. Do your own research.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by autoexec on Monday July 25, 2022 @05:14AM (#32222156)
How do you log the people who just bypass the thing entirely? Any cookie banners my ad-blocker doesn't kill automatically, I just right click on and remove from the page.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by ThePhysicist on Monday July 25, 2022 @01:45PM (#32228138)
The statistic only logs the ratio between accept & reject choices. We also record the showing of the dialogue (and users that go into the modal and customize choices), it's just not shown there. Ignoring the consent banner is fine and should not impact the functionality of the website.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by Smithalicious on Sunday July 24, 2022 @12:12PM (#32214806)
I have been conditioned to click "accept all" because at some point clicking "reject all" almost always lead me to a page saying that I can't use the site without cookies. I don't think this is as universal anymore but I haven't de-conditioned myself yet.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by bravetraveler on Sunday July 24, 2022 @01:15PM (#32215524)
I generally will manually set it to minimum

Too often 'reject all' doesn't do what it leads you to believe. I don't have incentive to allow any of it

Edit: It's often a ruse anyway. Either changing nothing or not working until you reload, if I remember correctly

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by ravenstine on Sunday July 24, 2022 @08:18PM (#32219205)
Who even audits sites for this anyway? Can I file a lawsuit if I find cookies are added even after I click reject all?
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by ThePowerOfFuet on Monday July 25, 2022 @08:02AM (#32223184)
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by joe__f on Sunday July 24, 2022 @12:18PM (#32214868)
I always press reject all, and if it doesn't let me use the site I find a different one normally
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by forgotmypw17 on Sunday July 24, 2022 @02:41PM (#32216347)
I have made it a personal philosphy to close any site which hassles me one of these, and the same for sign up for our newsletter.

I have noticed that the quality of material I read has gone up in the process.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by jabroni_salad on Sunday July 24, 2022 @01:42PM (#32215792)
A lot of those prompts make it annoying to use 'reject all' so I have developed muscle memory for slapping a bookmarklet that just removes all sticky elements from the page.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by throwaway378037 on Sunday July 24, 2022 @07:59PM (#32219060)
Can you share the bookmarklet? That sounds ideal
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by jabroni_salad on Monday July 25, 2022 @12:02PM (#32226319)
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by Kenneth39 on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @02:07AM (#32234867)
Of course, the pop-up cookies are annoying, and I could say I don't think about them at all.

Most of the time, I click the first thing that comes up. However, I have noticed that this only happens on trusted sites.

On sites I don't know, I prefer to either close the window or "reject all." But how it pisses me off!

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by Nextgrid on Sunday July 24, 2022 @02:37PM (#32216318)
My ad-blocker takes care of the majority of these, but if some slip through I will do my best to find the "reject all" option or navigate away if it isn't there. It's unlikely to show up in metrics though because whatever is supposed to collect those metrics would be blocked anyway.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by harel on Sunday July 24, 2022 @03:51PM (#32217013)
I get cookie rage. Some I already know to click details and immediately save for a minimal default. Some I randomly select whatever, some I accept. Then I get asked the same from the same site the next day. I hate this so much that I get desensitized to all forms of tracking.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by liminalsunset on Sunday July 24, 2022 @02:07PM (#32216022)
I use Temporary Containers on Firefox, so the cookies are deleted after I am done anyway.

I always click Accept All to make it go away, if I didn't have the uBlock filter that blocks the popups altogether.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by rlpb on Sunday July 24, 2022 @08:48PM (#32219387)
Is that "Accept all cookies" or "Accept all our terms, not just about cookies but also our rights to your first born"? Did you check?

My point is that an "accept all" reflex isn't necessarily safe even if you don't retain cookies.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by EEBio on Monday July 25, 2022 @03:06AM (#32221373)
Given that we are talking about a website, what is the worst legal enforceable thing you could agree to in this way?

Things like “rights to your first born” are illegal and unenforceable.

“you must visit the site everyday from now on” is unenforceable.

“or we close your account” - they don’t need your consent for that

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by orf on Sunday July 24, 2022 @09:08PM (#32219497)
https://www.super-agent.com/ does it for me automatically, snout 80% of the time.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by jokethrowaway on Sunday July 24, 2022 @01:29PM (#32215659)
I don't care, I click on whatever gets the popup away

Accept generally works better, sometimes you get more crap when you reject. Oftentimes you can't even find reject very easily

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by marssaxman on Sunday July 24, 2022 @02:13PM (#32216083)
I just zap the popups away using uBlock Origin, without clicking any option.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by dyingkneepad on Monday July 25, 2022 @11:14AM (#32225514)
Can you please describe what exactly you mean by "zap the popup away using uBlock Origin"?
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by marssaxman on Monday July 25, 2022 @03:46PM (#32229964)
uBlock Origin offers two element-picker modes. The lightning-bolt tool deletes whatever you click on, adding a rule blocking that element for future visits. The eyedropper tool does the same, with a preview option and more control over the selector you filter out; this is useful with modal overlays, where the prompt itself may be nested in a screen-filling div, blocking the underlying content.

I use these features liberally - for cookie notices, "subscribe to our newsletter" nag boxes, sticky bottom banners, chatbot requests, and everything else which gets in the way.

In addition to per-site rules, I have a blanket block on OneTrust, which seems to be the most popular cookie nag system:

  *###onetrust-consent-sdk
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by dadoum on Sunday July 24, 2022 @02:28PM (#32216231)
When it's too hard to disable cookies, I just disable JavaScript and it works 80 % of time, + it often free up the space on the page.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by wayvey on Sunday July 24, 2022 @01:40PM (#32215761)
I do most of the time but I should probably just use some extension to hide the popups or just block cookies in general
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by Kim_Bruning on Sunday July 24, 2022 @02:12PM (#32216079)
I generally switch to firefox <readability mode>.

It helpfully removes both the popup and the tracking.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by Aisen8010 on Sunday July 24, 2022 @12:20PM (#32214902)
Is there a browser or extension that selects 'Reject All' for me?
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by Laaas on Sunday July 24, 2022 @12:43PM (#32215140)
I use https://github.com/CodyMcCodington/AutoCookieOptout, it works on some of the more common sites.
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by hobbitperusal on Sunday July 24, 2022 @12:55PM (#32215280)
I use this one since few weeks: https://www.super-agent.com
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by xigoi on Sunday July 24, 2022 @01:07PM (#32215422)
Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by nottorp on Sunday July 24, 2022 @03:36PM (#32216832)
That was fun. I opened the WSJ link from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32202295 and consentomatic shrunk the "can we spy on you" popup and then auto scrolled through it and unchecked everything.

Not sure how well it worked but it was satisfying.

Re:Ask HN: What percentage of users click 'Reject All'? by saurik on Sunday July 24, 2022 @11:44AM (#32214542)
It's probably just me, and even I don't have a 100% success rate.