Pop-ups are a form of online advertising. They typically appear when a Web page is loading or has finished loading. They can be many different shapes and sizes and contain text, graphics and/or animation. The purpose is to attract Web site traffic or collect e-mail addresses for future marketing. Similarly, pop-under ads harbor the same purpose as pop-ups, but they aren’t as intrusive-they aren’t seen until the window covering them is gone.
Pop-ups are useful for a number of reasons:
- They are difficult to ignore – even if users close the ad, there’s still a chance companies have reached them and given them some kind of message.
- Pop-up ads allow users direct access to a particular Web site, most often driving them right to the product a company is selling.
- They can be tracked – companies will be able to see exactly how users got to their site which can help in determining if the pop-ups are working or worthless.
- They aren’t very expensive to implement.
There are a variety of disadvantages as well:
- People dislike pop-up ads – they are intrusive and can stand in the way of a user getting at the content they want. Sometimes users close them before they’ve seen what the ad is.
- They can slow down a user’s computer – some sites decide to throw multiple pop-ups at users, which ends up slowing load time for Web pages.
- Pop-up blocking software has been developed – now, Web users have the power to forgo receiving pop-ups. Users still have the option to allow pop-ups, though.
Based on the advantages and disadvantages, it’s pretty clear that the advantages are company-focused and the disadvantages affect users. So, here are a few things that can be done to make pop-ups more effective and less annoying:
- Limit the number of pop-ups – it’s probably not a good idea to have more than one per page. And, putting pop-ups on the homepage of a Web site might deter people from staying.
- Make sure pop-ups are easy to get rid of – if people get frustrated that there’s a pop-up in their way, they’ll only be more frustrated if there isn’t a way to make it go away.
- Keep size in mind – pop-ups shouldn’t completely obstruct a Web user’s view of any Web page.
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Currently listening to: “Love Lockdown” by Kanye West (808’s and Heartbreak, 2008)
