"Gotcha!" or How the Pop-up ads try to fool you -- and how to avoid getting caught

(Ms.) Jj,
Creative Director
Vision IPD

We all hate them - those annoying pop-up and pop-under windows that show up on your screen when you are browsing some of the most respected websites. Some of us use blocking software or have moved to the Open Source Firefox browser, which is graining in popularity by the week. But perhaps you need to visit sites that use pop-up technology for delivering content, or for other reasons you do not use a blocker. You just close the windows when you see them and continue surfing the Internet.

Most windows are easy to close by clicking on the "x" in the upper right corner, just as you close any other window. Likewise, intrusive ads that fall down or otherwise cover content (often on news sites) always hide a "close ad" link or an "x" in a small box somewhere in the ad. You may have to look closely, but it can be found.

However, as consumers and internet users become more sophisticated and less likely to read ads, the advertisers are becoming more "sneaky" in the way the design their ads in an effort to get their message before consumers. This ad (left... click image for a larger view) is a good example that just appeared on my screen while I was researching a word for a client's web site.

Look closely (it is easier to see on the larger image) and you will notice two "x-boxes" in the upper right corner. Both look like where you click to close a Windows-type window, where the outer-most "x" closes the entire program and the inner "x" just closes the document but not the program in which you were working. One would THINK, upon seeing this, especially with the inner bar being the only blue one, and drawing the eye (which is how it actually looked on my desktop) that this emphasized "x" would be where you click to close the window. NO!

The inner bar and "x" are actually part of the image and when you click on them, yet another window opens with the advertisers website! (larger image view) You need to look carefully and click the outermost "x".

A safe way to close an suspicious window is to look at the bottom of your screen, where each window you have open creates a small "button" with the program icon (see illustration below) and (if there are not too many for it to show) the name of the program or file that is open. Popup and pop-under windows also generate such a "button" which will have the Internet Explorer icon showing. If you have more than one Internet Explorer-related button, a single click will open or bring to the front each web window in turn. When you come to the one associated with the annoying pop-up (or if there is only one such button showing) RIGHT-clicking on it will open a small menu on which you can safely click CLOSE.

There are many other safety tips that we would be glad to share. Just give us a call to schedule a "safe computing seminar" for your employees.

For a free consultation to see how your business can benefit from professional design services on the Internet or in print, contact Vision IPD Incorporated, PO Box 309, Smyrna, 28579 phone 207.433.0687 or email vision(at)visionipd.com