Pop up advertising on the Internet was once seen typically as a sneaky way to advertise adult websites and illegal software downloads, but today they are common on major commercial websites, advertising everything from car insurance to cell phone ringtones. The ads are triggered when a user navigates to a page or moves the mouse over a particular portion of a page, causing the ad banner to “pop up” to the foreground. Advertisers use this strategy as a way to force computer users to see their advertising, but there are some disadvantages associated with this practice. While pop ups are effective in one way, meaning consumers will have more familiarity with the product, the hostility the user can sometimes feel toward the intrusion can hurt the reputation of the brand and even drive visitors away from the product. It can even make people avoid certain content sites where the pop ups tend to be a regular occurrence. If a company’s site only generates 20 clicks per month on a pop up ad, they will be hard pressed to charge $500 per month for the privilege of appearing on the page. But if they generate 10,000 clicks per month, it can be worth it. But the downside is that each time a user clicks on the intrusive pop up ad, the user’s attention is redirected to the advertiser and away from the site’s content. In addition, if he clicks the pop up, it will take the user to the advertiser’s website, potentially making him forget about the original content site to begin with. This creates a conflict for some sites that actually want their own information to be read or viewed. So, the increased effectiveness of pop up ads can actually make this type of advertising less desirable for the site. Writer Bio
