Pop-up ad

Pop-up ads are a form of online advertising on the Internet where certain websites open a new web browser window to display advertisements. The pop-up window containing an advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript, but can be generated by other means as well. A less intrusive variation on the pop-up window is the pop-under advertisment. This opens a new browser window, but in the background so as not to interrupt the user's page-view.

For early advertising-supported websites, banner ads were sufficient revenue generators, but in the wake of the dot com crash, prices paid for banner advertising clickthroughs decreased and many vendors began to investigate more intrusive advertising methods. Pop-up ads by their nature are difficult to ignore or overlook, and are claimed to be more effective than static banner ads. Pop-ups have a much higher click rate then Web banner ads do.

Most users regard pop-ups as a nuisance. All major web browsers except Internet Explorer now allow the user to block pop-ups almost completely. Many users, however, remain unaware of this ability, or else choose not to use it. Some users install ad-blocking software instead. Advertisers continually seek ways to circumvent such restrictions. Many of the latest pop-ups are created using Flash and have extensive animation and trickery.

Pop-up ads can also be spawned as a separate process (that is to say, apart from the browser) on the user's local computer. This is typically because of a spyware infestation, or because the user has voluntarily installed Adware.

A particularly common type of pop-up ad exploits the Messenger service in Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Browsers that block pop-up ads

Add-on programs that block pop-up ads

External links

Pop-up Test - a site for testing how well your pop-up blocking software works