I try to limit my blog posts to 500 or fewer words, but web page advertising is a topic that could inspire me to write several thousand words. I’ll try to contain myself.
Perhaps the ads that tick me off more than anything are videos that not only automatically play but set their volume to anything other than “mute.” They are especially vexing to me because I often open a slew of links in other tabs and windows. So I right-click or Ctrl+click on the links as I peruse a web site. Then, to my great annoyance, sound starts playing.
Sometimes the sound is the video I want to watch, but mostly it’s some stupid ad. Fortunately, Chrome now displays a speaker icon on the tab that’s making the noise. That makes it easier to find and stop the cacophony, but even then some “news” websites bury the automatic ad somewhere down on the page.
Next to automatic videos, the Flash ads that cover the whole page also annoy me. The trick for those ads is to find the “Close” command or icon. You can also try waiting until it goes away. And some pages don’t banish the Flash ad until you sign up for something or answer questions. That tactic doesn’t enamor me to the web site.
Another type of ad that bothers me are the false alarm type of ads. I don’t fall for this deceptive advertising, but I’m sure that lots of people do. Examples of these ads are shown in Figures 1 through 3. Be careful! These are not warnings from your computer, but rather screen captures I’ve taken of annoying ads.
Figure 1. Not a real message from your computer.
Figure 2. Again, this is a false flag and quite a devious one.
Figure 3. See that icon in the upper right corner? Yep, it’s an ad.
The problem with these deceptive ads is that they work. People click on them. Of course, where you end up isn’t going to be related to what you clicked. For example, in Figure 3 the message most certainly isn’t private nor would it be directly for you. And I would hope that clicking the links doesn’t take you anywhere you don’t want to go.
Finally, despite years of anti-pop-up window tools in various web browsers, pop-up windows still exist. I don’t suppose we’ll ever see the last of them. And I must seriously question whoever is paying for those ads: Just like zillions of others, my first inclination is to close the window before I ever read what they’re trying to sell.
