Forum Moderators: open
I just need to rant -- these little buggers are spreading like c0ckroaches. Over the last few weeks I'm even getting hit from sites that I used to find respectable.
I know that the idea is to get around people killing pop-up ads before they load. Well, I have a message for the advertisers -- I still close the danged thing the minute I see it on my toolbar. And then I realize that I had to wait longer to see my page while the (often slow) ad server pushed that message at me.
I'm rapidly building up enough animosity to hold it against the advertiser for a long time. At least with the rapidly-killed pop-up I didn't know who was advertising, so I didn't have a target for my wrath. Now I know who NOT to buy from.
When are people going to realize that the web is not effective as a push medium? Yes, web advertising needs a boost. This is not the answer.
Literally thousands upon thousands of sites -- ranging from the smallest to the larest -- whose income models are based on advertising are finding themselves beleaguered by ad income insufficient to support their server fees, let alone make a profit.
Time Magazine THE WORST [time.com]
"Do these obnoxious, ubiquitous online ads really sell anyone a low-interest credit card or "the amazing XCam2!" wireless camera? Search us. But these rapidly proliferating ad windows, leaping onto screens unasked for, turn Web browsing into an annoying game of digital whack-a-mole. That's not selling; that's mugging."
Well first you would have to prove to me that they actually work! But what about the vast majority of users who hate them with a passion? Seems to me that employing such an unpopular and invasive method to force your message down the throats of unsuspecting surfers, might be one worth reevaluating. At least have the decency to offer surfers the choice to turn all that stuff *on* rather than have it served up automatically.
IMHO, it will only be a matter of time until print advertising makes a comeback. At least in the print medium, readers are not assaulted by cheesey music, animated critters or pop up pages to distract them from finding the information they were after to begin with. All they have to worry about are the tacky scratch and sniff ads! But at least readers have a choice to scratch and sniff or not to scratch and sniff.
Take animated banners, pop up/under windows, flash intro pages and lob them all into one of those caves in Afghanistan ... then blow it up!
Setting your browser preferences or using a 3rd party software to kill pop ups is going to make you miss out on a lot of good content. Not only do I use pop ups in my design where needed (explanation windows, etc...) so do countless other sites.
I think the best solution (someone mentioned) is something that kills onload and onunload popups as well as popups that load without the user having intentionally clicked on a link. (Although that does pose a problem for some javascript applications that reopen a needed window if the user accidently closed it previously... i.e. a remote control tour)
Everything else should be considered ok.
I'm certain that they get more complete downloads than regular pop-ups, but I'm beginning to enjoy "Whack the Pop-Under" even more than "Whack the Pop-Up". It takes more alertness!
