The Dark Side Of Advertising

What is pop-up advertising? And does it work?
We’ve all experienced the irritation of pop-ups. A new browser window spontaneously opening on our computers containing some gaudy (and usually flashing) message about an online casino or dating website is not an uncommon occurrence. Designed to encourage click-throughs or harvest email addresses for future usage, these pop-up adverts possess an ability to irritate us and damage our devices that belies their often-modest dimensions.
Pop-up advertising was the answer to a decline in click-throughs from the traditional banner adverts that populated websites in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A programmer at the web hosting service Tripod created a JavaScript program to display adverts across a page without embedding them – or tacitly approving of the page’s other contents. This modest piece of code was quickly adopted by Tripod’s rival Geocities before spreading across the internet like wildfire.
A typical pop-up will still be powered by JavaScript, often appearing while a particular website loads. However, concerted efforts to prevent pop-ups have led to a genetic mutation – the hover ad. Adopting the same principles as its forefather, hover ads are constructed in dynamic HTML to float above the existing content. Not only are these harder to block (being part of that page’s core HTML content), they are also more memory-intensive than a conventional browser window. For businesses who don’t have a problem with being an annoyance to customers, hover ads and pop-up ads may may seem like a great way to connect with customers.
We’d say different.
Another relatively new phenomenon is the appearance of pop-unders. These comparatively discreet adverts appear in a new browser window stacked below the active web page. That means they’re only spotted when the active browser is closed, by which point it can be difficult to ascertain which website heralded their arrival.
To minimise the occurrence of pop-up adverts and their ilk, all the major web browsers employ techniques for preventing them:

• Although it has been abandoned by many users and is being swapped out by Microsoft in Windows 10, the Internet Explorer platform has a Pop-up Blocker within its Privacy settings which can be set to different strengths; bear in mind that selecting “High: Block all pop-ups” will also prevent legitimate pop-ups (which still exist) from opening
• Firefox places a “block pop-up windows” button prominently within its Content panel.
• Chrome blocks pop-ups automatically with optional IE-style settings for adjusting the level of privacy users require.

If a pop-up ad simply appeared for a few seconds and then vanished, it would be little more than an inconvenience. However, many pop-ups link to pornographic sites or websites infected with malware. Others have been designed in such a way that the usual close button (an X in a box) is actually a link or action button that will cause more pop-ups to open or redirect people to a third-party website.  This can be averted by right-click closing the window from the taskbar/system tray.
More worryingly, pop-ups are increasingly mutating into malware that installs malicious files when users click on them. Once a computer has become infected, pop-ups begin proliferating on web pages and even across the main desktop. In some cases, this malware can hijack internet browsers and capture personal information for fraud purposes. Cleaning an infected device requires specialist software like Spybot S&D or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which can ferret out any malicious files.
Some antivirus packages can provide additional security against pop-ups, although they’re not specifically designed for this purpose. In an ironic twist, pop-ups will often pretend to be antivirus software. They’ll encourage users to accept their promises of disinfection or Trojan removal, even though their intention is the exact opposite. If recurring messages about viruses or infections start appearing on your computer, try to install adware/malware software or seek advice from an IT professional.
Does your business website really want to be tarred with the same brush as harmful pop-ups? It may not seem like such a good idea anymore. Maybe you should be looking to more futuristic advertising opportunities, such as virtual reality. Read more here.