Pop-up Ads – A Royal Pain

Pop-up ads are spontaneous browser windows that jet out at Web users entering an online site, exiting it or just surfing around. As old as the commercial Web itself, the ad format truly came into vogue when Web publishers got pressed for cash in the dot-com crunch.

Eager to convince reluctant Fortune 500 companies that Web advertising could be as intrusive, and effective, as TV commercials, sites such as USA Today, AOL, MSNBC, Amazon.com and Yahoo began triggering the ads regularly to grab readers' attention. The proliferation of pop-ups also launched obscure goods, such as X-10's surveillance cameras, into Internet infamy.

Though unpopular with consumers, the ads are favored by advertisers because they're generally thought to get a higher response from viewers. Some researchers estimate that they garner three to six times greater click-through rates than standard banners or display ads on the Web.

Over time, pop-up ads are becoming less effective as readers tune them out or avoid sites that host them altogether.

Programs to Stop Pop-ups

Pop-up ads have spawned a crop of programs aimed at minimizing or eliminating this nuisance. If you are sick & tired of these in-your-face ads, try out the following programs:

Popup Stopper - www.panicware.com
AdSubtract - www.adsubtract.com
AdsGone - www.a1tech.com
Guard IE - www.guardwall.com
PopNot - www.hdsoft.com
Pop-up Zero - www.pcssafe.com
Pop-up Cop – www.popupcop.com

Some of these programs are “freeware” which you can download and use at no cost. Others allow you to try them out for thirty days, and charge a small fee for continued use.