Pop-Ups

Information on Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are windows, mostly advertising different products, that appear when the user views a web page. The windows vary in size, shape, irritation, and content. Some of these advertisements just pop up in a small window, while others may take up the whole screen. Pop-ups can come in many guises. Some have animation with bright flashing icons and pictures, some cause the user to lose control of the browser being unable to navigate back or forward, yet others when closed will open many other pop-up windows and sometimes cause the computer to lock up.
Some pop-ups, carrying ‘Trojans’ can install programmes that cause the computer to become a pop-up distributor. Another type of pop-up is a pop-under. A pop-under opens inconspicuously behind the original window leaving the window unseen until the user has closed the original window.
The idea of these sneaky, offensive, and invasive advertisements are to frustrate the user causing them to read and click on the link to the advertised product. Pop-ups are created by a variety of different product companies or websites. Some examples of pop-up ads include: credit cards, electronics, porn sites, and casinos.
Yet another source of pop-up advertising comes from within your PC, in the form of ad-serving programmes on your hard drive, sometimes called Adware or Spyware. These apps can install on your system without your knowledge when you download certain free software or when you visit some Web sites.

Not only are pop-up ads annoying, but they steal bandwidth from your other legitimate downloads!

The best way to avoid pop-ups is to go to websites that do not utilize pop-ups. Rather than be limited to a few websites, many users instead choose to install a small programme called a ‘pop-up stopper’. These programmes, downloaded from the Internet and often for free, automatically close pop-up windows when encountered. Many different programmes are available and can be found by typing “pop-ups” in any Internet search engine. Virus checking is also essential for avoiding more malicious pop-ups.