Know your enemy: Pop-ups

by Jesse Snyder <snyderjw@pacificu.edu>

BS, Computer Science, Pacific University

Pop-ups may be the most annoying thing you'll come across while surfing the web. How many times have you gone to a site only to drown in advertisements for travel, gambling, or some cure all? The whole idea of a pop-up is that the advertisement is in your face and you'll that you'll be persuaded to click the pop-up because it's so darn persistent. This logic baffles me to no end. Pummel your potential customers into submission.

Now, there are more than just pop-ups. There are pop-unders which create a page beneath the page you are viewing. Sometimes you'll come across annoying advertisements embedded in a web page. However, the most frequently used and probably most intrusive advertisement is the pop-up. In this article, we'll help you learn more about pop-ups, as well as how to avoid and get rid of them.

What exactly is a pop-up?

A pop-up is really nothing more than a new browser window with a flashy image inside. For example, if you right click (control click for Macs) a link in a webpage, you can choose to view the webpage in a new window. This allows you to keep the page you were browsing open, so you don't have to click the "Back" button to go back to your page.

In the HTML language, it is possible to make a link open up into a new page automatically, or even a page that creates new windows when it loads. Using HTML, and sometime JavaScripting, websites can make a new page appear containing their advertisement. The ad can also be placed anywhere on the screen, at any size. Even the ability to control the ad, besides closing the window, can be taken away. Some pop-up creators have gone as far as moving the title bar and window closing controls off screen. This almost forces the typical web surfer to click the ad. Some ads are timed so that after viewing a page after a minute or two, a pop up appears. If you close the ad, it'll reappear in a few minutes, or a few seconds. I've been to more than one site that will change my homepage to a company site, or try to install spy ware to track my online purchases.

While it's understandable that companies want to make money, it feels like computer users are being forced or tricked into going to a particular site. While watching students who are used to web surfing browse the web, they immediately close any pop-ups without looking to see what the ad is about. Sometimes, students who are not computer experts will click the adds, usually the ones with fake buttons that say, "Click to close" but actually take the user to their site. Just from personal experience and watching other people web browse, it seems expert users get out of a pop-up situations quickly, while novice users are tricked into going to a site. (http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/12_924001)

Ways to stop pop-ups

Although a few advertising studies have shown that pop-ups aren't universally hated, and in fact, people are beginning to acclimate themselves towards this kind of advertisement, I can safely venture that the average user would rather live without pop-ups ads. Here are a few methods to stop pop-up ads from getting on your nerves.

1) Manual Labor

Basically, close the window yourself. This can be done just like closing any browser window: clicking the "x" in the corner of the window. However, the windows are sometimes placed off screen, or maybe the pop-ups open too fast to close by hand. Instead, use the keyboard short cut, which is control-W for PCs, and command-W for Macs. You can press this combo quickly if the pop-ups come in a deluge, but be careful not to go too far and close the page you came from.

2) Change your browser

Some browsers offer built in pop-up blocking. Opera is the best web browser to stop pop-ups. However, you may find it more annoying that some web pages won't open because of the pop-up blocking. For example, if a link that is set to open a page into a new window is clicked on, it might not open due to the pop-up blocking software thinking your new page is a pop-up. In any event, these occurrences are rare. Opera is available to Macs and PCs

Safari, Apple's new web browser is also a good candidate for pop-up blocking. It's the new kid on the block, and only works on Macs, but is the fastest browser I've tried on any platform, and it has popup blocking software built in. It's still a beta now, but it's free and Apple is providing weekly updates, so give it a shot if you're on a Mac.

Mozilla also has pop-up blocking. To block pop-ups in Mozilla, go to Edit->Preferences->Scripts & windows, and uncheck "Open requested windows." It's not as obvious as Opera's and Safari's popup blocking, but it works. Mozilla is available for Macs and PCs as well.

3) Pop-up controlling software

There's a slew of pop-up blocking software available. Some is free, while most is not. As always, you get what you pay for. Most pop-up blocking software is used with Internet Explorer since there is no pop-up protection built into Microsoft's web browser.

1. Popupcop (http://www.popupcop.com/): Popupcop won the Editors choice C-Net Award for August 2002. Although the price tag is $20, you can download a 30-day trial to see if you really like the software. One great thing about Popupcop is that rather than blocking specific sites (site or URL matching) it watches the user interaction with the browser. The interface is sleek, and comes in the form of a tool bar add-on for Internet Explorer.

2. Pop-Up Stopper Pro (http://www.panicware.com/product_psprofessional.html): Pop-up Stopper comes with a price tag of $29.95, but can be used with Internet Explorer, America Online, MSN and Netscape, and even Opera. This software connects with a remote server to determine which sites to block, which is constantly updated. Pop-Up Stopper also blocks annoying pop-under ads.

3. Exit Killer 4.0 (http://www.exitkiller.com/): Exit killer is also $29.95, but offers slightly less support that Pop-Up Stopper. Exit Killer does support Netscape and AOL however. Exit Killer used tool bar integration as the interface, and beeps every time a pop-up is blocked. I would find this annoying, but it's a feature than can be disabled. Exit Killer claims 100% blockage, something I haven't seen other blockers claim.

4. Freebies: There's a ton of free pop-up blockers. You can find a listing of them at http://www.dibeneditto.com/resources/20030129/, along with ratings for each. Each has their ups and downs since they are free, but if you're strapped for cash, this is your best bet. In fact, you can even find a free version of Pop-Up Stopper at http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html, although it's limited compared to the version you pay for.

To me, pop-ups are nothing more than a distraction that takes away from web browsing. Sometimes, they become a hindrance to browsing, especially when they take control away from the user. However, for some people, many minutes can be lost trying to figure out how to kill pop-ups, or get out of a site that a pop-up has brought them to. This leads to lost productivity, and a frustrating experience. If you know your enemy, you'll be better equipped to fight your enemy. Such is the case with pop-ups. If one appears, you can hit control (or command) W to close the pop-up. However, this gets old fast, so some pop-up blocking software might be in order, if your browser doesn't have some already. Of course, the best solution is to not visit sites that use pop-ups. Perhaps if a pop-up using company's traffic dips enough, they'll change their advertisement model and we'll never have to worry about pop-ups again.

Know your enemy: Pop-ups

March 2003

Volume 3, Issue 2

Communication

Feature

Life-Long Learning

Online Education

Grants

Tech Corner

Life-Long Learning

Book and Site Review

Book and Site Review

Editorial