TonyMontana — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 19:58:55 +0000

More important for me than a pop up blocker is a running program like Spybot SD while online. So many sites try to force download spyware (hotmail and about.com sites included), and without this tool, (in addition to changing security settings on folders), a windows installation can get messed up pretty fast.

Suzanne — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 15:46:38 +0000

popup blockers only work on windows that automatically popup, don't they? for windows that the user launches that function isn't blocked.

Personally I found them to be the worst type of "push technology" because it made visiting the web an upsetting experience. Physiologically, sudden movements trigger an adrenalin response in us -- popup windows that self spawn are like an attack, we go into defense mode, and learn to avoid the situation or become numb to the attack, either of which would reduce the effectiveness of this "campaign" (loss of users or loss of effectiveness).

I reject the idea that these blockers cost you money and made money for the popup blocker companies, because if the misuse of the technology wasn't so prevalent, and if these popup windows weren't so upsetting, then the popup blocker companies would not have made money, their product would not have been valued.

GA Media — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 07:18:13 +0000

Irrespective of whether you are using pop-up blockers because you do or do not surf adult orientated sites the fact still remains that it is possible to show consoles to our site visitors even if they have these programs installed!

Pop-up blockers were a great tool for the 'surfer' when they came out however, the real benefit came to the pop-up blocker company that sold these programs.. a new untapped market worth billions of dollars... think abotu it for a second, consoles do work when it comes to advertising our affiliate links.. the makers of these programs took money away from us in the long run.

Regards,

Lee

Megan — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 14:33:43 +0000

I remember back in the day when I used an old fashioned browser with no pop-up blocker I'd have problems with clipart sites, and font sites, and a lot more. I had to check a site from the critiques section in IE the other day and got a pop-up.

Anyway, you do have a point. In Opera you can choose to block all pop-ups or only unrequested pop-ups. MS should be clear about that. And yes, webmasters should be notified about this so anyone running pop-ups can find another solution. Although, this is a service pack and it could be that most people won't install it anyway.

bja888 — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 22:00:26 +0000

Well there are normaly a ton of pop ups on porn sites as compaired to your avarage web bisness web site. Im sure that alot are repeats also.

The Webmistress — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:22:13 +0000

bja888 wrote: Final note, as long as you dont go to porn sites you dont need a pop up blocker.

Rubbish! I have a pop-up blocker and I've just looked throught the list of blocked ads and the list for non porn sites is huge!

bja888 — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:10:37 +0000

They better tell us webmasters what they are going to block and what they arnt going to block. Opening a new window (pop up). Is an extreamly usefull tool. You cant block everything. Then they must tell us what will not be blocked.
Now as long as you dont block all new windows there will alwase be pop ups. I garente that I can write a script that will get an ad that will open in another window.
Final note, as long as you dont go to porn sites you dont need a pop up blocker.

The Webmistress — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 07:39:46 +0000

acsinclair wrote: And, out of curiosity, I always thought that IE was only the most popular browser in the US, and that Netscape held the market worldwide? For instance, most of my friends who live in Africa or Europe do not use IE. Does anyone know that actual international usage?

IE6 is definitely the most used browser according to all my sites stats, with IE5. showing second, NS7 third with the others milling around with very, very low percentages!

Abhishek Reddy — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 03:58:43 +0000

Greg K wrote: To be honest, except for the sites that give you a ton of pop us that pop up others when you close them, I prefer pop up ads.

I know, you think I'm crazy. But think of what the alternative is going to be. More sites where the ad is now part of the page that is a layer covering up the content I wanted to see. At least if it's a popped up window, I can quickly close it without having to look for a "CLOSE" button on the ad. (again, with exception to the extremely annoying sites).

I wonder how hard it would be to write a piece of JS in Mozilla that detects and disables those annoying ad scripts. I haven't tracked extensions lately, so there are none that do this job that I'm aware of.

Erica, I'm under the impression that Explorer is the most popular browser even worldwide. I don't have stats though.

acsinclair — Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:42:43 +0000

Well...I rarely use IE (I prefer Opera or Firefox...even NETSCAPE over IE), but I am glad to see that IE is finally going to address this issue.

Megan, you should definitely write in & let her know that other browsers tackled this issue long ago.

And, out of curiosity, I always thought that IE was only the most popular browser in the US, and that Netscape held the market worldwide? For instance, most of my friends who live in Africa or Europe do not use IE. Does anyone know that actual international usage?

Cheers,
Erica