Pop-Up Ad Creator Apologizes
Ethan Zuckerman, the creator of the pop-up advertisement, recently wrote an article for The Atlantic apologizing for the tech, saying that he was the one who wrote the code so that an ad can launch in a separate window. The intentions were good, but he acknowledged that pop-ups have become the most hated advertiser's tool on the Internet.
So why were pop-up ads created? It started when he was working for Tripod.com from 1994 to 1999. Tripod created a website to provide services and content to college graduates, but that didn't pan out, so it decided to become a webpage host instead. The company tried a number of ways to generate revenue, but in the end, it had to rely on advertising.
"The model that got us acquired was analyzing users' personal homepages so we could better target ads to them," he said. "Along the way, we ended up creating one of the most hated tools in the advertiser's toolkit: the pop-up ad."
He said that the pop-up ad was the result of a car company complaining that it had purchased a banner ad that was shown on a pornography site. By throwing the ad in a pop-up window, the source ad wouldn't be associated with the website's content. Ultimately, what he wanted to create was a tool for Tripod.com that allowed users to express themselves, a service that was supported through ads.
"Charging users for the service would have blocked most of our potential customers — most of the world still doesn't have a credit card today, and fewer did in 1995," he said. "E-payment systems like PayPal didn't come online until 1999. But because Tripod's services were free and ad supported, users around the world found us and began posting webpages they could not host elsewhere."
Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
Yes, adblock plus is a program from the heavens. I do however have it disabled on my most visited websites to that they can continue to get revenue off of ads...like Tom's.
Yes, adblock plus is a program from the heavens. I do however have it disabled on my most visited websites to that they can continue to get revenue off of ads...like Tom's.
I agree, for toms though some ads are REALLY intrusive so I have it customized to show all except the intrusive ones.
Yes, adblock plus is a program from the heavens. I do however have it disabled on my most visited websites to that they can continue to get revenue off of ads...like Tom's.
I agree, for toms though some ads are REALLY intrusive so I have it customized to show all except the intrusive ones.
This is actually a compound problem. The people who do disable it for websites they visit allot are often bombarded with a ton of ads while others who keep it on get no ads.
I really think they need to impose standards to ads on websites so that ad block is no longer necessary and everyone can chip in to website revenue. It's a win win really. End user sees few adds while website revenue increases.
Here is the real kicker... various Anti-Pop-up programs came out.. (okay) then these jerks would re-write code the work around the Anti-PU, and do a pop-up?!
Like take a fraggin hint! The person with the Anti-PU doesn't WANT POP UPS and won't buy from the add anyway!
I use pop-up windows for my sites to show information, for which is was attended...
Yes, adblock plus is a program from the heavens. I do however have it disabled on my most visited websites to that they can continue to get revenue off of ads...like Tom's.
I agree, for toms though some ads are REALLY intrusive so I have it customized to show all except the intrusive ones.
This is actually a compound problem. The people who do disable it for websites they visit allot are often bombarded with a ton of ads while others who keep it on get no ads.
I really think they need to impose standards to ads on websites so that ad block is no longer necessary and everyone can chip in to website revenue. It's a win win really. End user sees few adds while website revenue increases.
Like no Flashing or Flash, no video, no audio and none of those in window popups that cover the pages contents. Also no ads integrated into the content making it difficult to find the actual link. The worst offenders are on sites like Cnet downloads and Filehippo with fake links that say download.
Uncanny but welcome.
Chances are he is really a good person.
Knowing how a technology will be applied is impossible.
YOU are not the culprit.
now read the capital letters.
Yes, adblock plus is a program from the heavens. I do however have it disabled on my most visited websites to that they can continue to get revenue off of ads...like Tom's.
I agree, for toms though some ads are REALLY intrusive so I have it customized to show all except the intrusive ones.
This is actually a compound problem. The people who do disable it for websites they visit allot are often bombarded with a ton of ads while others who keep it on get no ads.
I really think they need to impose standards to ads on websites so that ad block is no longer necessary and everyone can chip in to website revenue. It's a win win really. End user sees few adds while website revenue increases.
Like no Flashing or Flash, no video, no audio and none of those in window popups that cover the pages contents. Also no ads integrated into the content making it difficult to find the actual link. The worst offenders are on sites like Cnet downloads and Filehippo with fake links that say download.
Yes, those are all problem advertisement methods. The advertisers have to learn that there is a point where an ad turns into an annoyance and that's something you don't want your brand associated with.
Because the article has "pop-up-advertisement" in its' title
))