Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: AOL's new "Pop-Up" Controls.

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-12-2003, 06:59 PM:

Hey! They really work! Up to now, I had all these CNN pop-ups, funky pop-ups, pop-up pop-ups, and all that good annoying stuff that covers areas where you are trying to read. AOL now has a patch that will install itself to fix that.

If you want to install this patch, look for it to cycle through on the AOL welcome screen. Click on it, and follow the prompts. The patch will download when you sign off, install itself, and the next time you sign on, go to keyword "pop-up Controls" and make your preferences. Then, kiss the pop-up's goodby. [Smile]

The area to find in circled in red. Sorry about the double tool bar....my bad.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-12-2003, 10:21 PM:

How many of those pop ups are AOL generated anyway?

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-12-2003, 11:14 PM:

Sam, This is from USA Today (Gannett)

AOL targets other sites' pop-up ads
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY

America Online is escalating its battle against pop-up advertising.

The No. 1 Web service plans to launch a feature today that lets subscribers block nearly all unsolicited pop-up ads on the Web.

No. 3 provider EarthLink rolled out a similar option last summer. And in October, AOL said it would stop selling unsolicited pop-up ads that appear on its own service.

"Members are telling us, 'I want you to put me in the driver's seat,' " says Jeffrey Kimball, vice president of product marketing.

The move is AOL's latest effort to retain subscribers, who have been defecting to rival broadband services and cheaper dial-up options.

"I think it sends a very important signal that AOL is putting customers front and center," says Charles Buchwalter, analyst for Nielsen/NetRatings. About 2% to 3% of online ads are pop-ups, a figure Buchwalter expects to drop slightly this year. "Pop-ups are at the top of the list of consumers' concerns."

Stand-alone pop-up blockers are available on the Web, but few consumers use them, he says.

The feature will be available to users of AOL 8.0, its latest version, within two weeks. Users can download it by typing "pop-up controls" in the keyword space.

The AOL product enables users to turn the control on or off with a single click and to specify Web sites from which they want to allow pop-ups. When an ad is blocked, a sound will alert users, who can still click to see it.

AOL says its service is more discriminating than EarthLink's. It allows non-advertising pop-up boxes that appear when members click on a link. It also permits unsolicited pop-ups on secure sites, such as banks, which provide forms or other vital functions.

EarthLink says its subscribers can easily summon pop-up boxes they want by double-clicking on the link. And bank sites can simply be added to a list of approved pop-up suppliers.

The latest move isn't the end of pop-up ads for AOL members. AOL says it won't block animated pop-up ads that use "flash" technology because many Web sites use similar pop-ups to show movies. EarthLink says it blocks all pop-ups, including multimedia ads.

Subscribers will continue to get pop-ups on AOL that promote company services, such as AOL Broadband. AOL is also fulfilling existing contracts for third-party pop-ups on its service. The number of those ads has dropped as contracts have expired, AOL officials say.

By opting out of internal pop-ups, members can eliminate those third-party ads and dramatically reduce AOL promotions.

Posted by Mike Rendall (Member # 1499) on 03-13-2003, 04:51 AM:

There is an option in for Microsoft Browsers (IE6 etc) that you can cause the website to ask you before it opens child windows. I have done this and it works quite well, Although, it can get annoying on bonefide sites.

Microsoft Support page

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-13-2003, 08:26 AM:

Pop-up? What's a pop-up? [Wink]

Most browsers I know of have the feature built right in so that you can control them. Essentially, if you didn't click a link that asks for a window to be opened, the browser won't open any other windows. I think there is an exception for Java being allowed to open windows by itself but that's all I know.

Using Chimera as my browser (now known as Camino) I haven't seen a single unsolicited popup in several months. OmniWeb, Safari and Opera all have those features too.

It really peeves me off that companies like AOL allow this kind of shit to go on... Then they charge you MORE money for software to block the ads.

Let's see, now... They collect marketing information from your computer without your knowledge, then they sell that information to advertising companies who "blitz" you with advertisements, then they offer to sell you software to stop those ads. Two opposing streams of revenue there, no? But, isn't AOL the most expensive internet company to begin with?

If I tried to do someting like that, I'd probably land in jail!

Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 03-13-2003, 09:25 AM:

Netscape 7 also has a pop up blocker built in.

You can add sites to the allowed list if you need to.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 03-13-2003, 09:31 AM:

Mozilla has this, too.

Even easier (but with loss of functionality on some poorly designed web sites), it's trivial to disable Javascript in most browsers.

Posted by Barry Martin (Member # 1376) on 03-13-2003, 08:56 PM:

Just an FYI Randy, the patch they are referring to for AOL pop-up blocker is a free download. No extra cost. That would be a hoot (although not surprising) if they tried to charge you for it. [Roll Eyes]

I haven't downloaded it just because I don't encounter many pop-ups except for log-in screens and I'm too lazy to enter every site into an allow list. My wife accidentally downloaded some "Comet Cursor" program which came with "Ad Zapper", it took a while to realize we even had it. Everytime I went to a site with a pop up you just heard this "zap" sound. Finally when my IP address changed and the site didn't recognize me, I tried to log in only to have the window blocked. I feel the same about internet ads as I do about cinema ads, if they have something to do with that particular service and provide a level of convenience, cool. (Such as telling me about upgrades that are available, etc.) I don't need to be asked if I would like to try 1 year of Time, Sports Illustrated, or Entertainment weekly every time I sign on though. [Mad]

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-13-2003, 09:30 PM:

You can use a local proxy called The Proxomitron to block popups and many ads.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-13-2003, 10:17 PM:

Barry, most pop-ups I get were from legit websites of local newspapers, such as Seattle PI, Seattle Times, USA Today, and others I go to by using MSIE by default via AOL.

I disabled AOL's in-house pop-ups by using the "Settings/Preferences" Tab within the AOL screen. That took care of all the in-house stuff, but web browsing was still a pop-up disaster until I downloaded the free anti-popup utility AOL has to offer.

It sure makes things nicer.....that's for sure.

But when I use www.msn.com by itself on the other monitor and type in a web address, I am hit hard by pop-ups. That pisses me off. Somewhere I heard msn.com has a version of their own, but if it does, I don't know how to engage it. I looked through the internet options tab, and didn't find anything that allows pop-up controls. I have the security level at default (medium). When I "screw it down" any tighter, it just seems to bog things down too much.

Opera Web Browser seems to be "really clean"....have had no problems with it as far as pop-up's are concerned. It is a cool browser, but I don't use it all the time.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-13-2003, 10:22 PM:

I have found ESPN has a ton of pop ups among other mainstream sites. MSN's pages has movie ads, etc that pop up while you are trying to read some article. [Mad]

Disabling my active scripts kills my ability to add greamlins [Frown]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-13-2003, 10:33 PM:

Sam, you hit that one on the head! It is very frustrating. I guess I'll start using Opera more often on the second screen.

One nice thing about running dual monitors. I can log on Film-Tech twice, use one screen to read a post, and the other screen to answer it. [Smile]

Once you get "hooked" on dual monitors, you'll never want to leave home without it. And, running under Windows 2000 Pro, this computer has not crashed yet since I installed it!!! [beer]

AOL, MSIE, and Opera get along great! Have had no clashes with anyone of them beating up on the other.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-13-2003, 10:49 PM:

I tried running dual monitors the other day and it was cool, but my main screen is a Sony 17" flatscreen and my second moniter was an old 14" low res unit. That didn't work so well.
I will try again with a dual video card and another monitor that matches my Flatscreen.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-13-2003, 10:59 PM:

Sam, watch out about those dual video cards. They can be more trouble than what they are worth. I have one that was, as far as I was concerned, a waste of money.

If your cards are working now and if they can give you the resolution you desire and the monitors are capable of handling it along with the refresh rate, you should be OK. However, you might have to tell the computer what kind of monitors you have. If you don't, you probably could not expect much more than a 60hz rate.

Another monitor that matches your flat screen could be just the ticket you need without fiddling around with another graphics card.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 03-14-2003, 01:17 PM:

I was just looking out for slot space but I will probably go with dual cards.
That was my problem, my winders xp didnt have a driver for an old CTX moniter.

Posted by Robb Johnston (Member # 239) on 03-15-2003, 08:18 AM:

About a month one side or the other of the release of aol 8.0 they announced that they (AOL) were no longer going to sell pop-up ads.

Also, the ad blocking patch is an automatic update if you have that enabled. Last night when I logged off, I noticed that it downloaded and installed something. I didn't know what it was until this morning.

On the bottom of the browser window there is an icon that said allowing pop-ups. It is a pull down menu that allows you to block or allow all, allow from the site that you are currently on, or set preferences.

I highly recommend that you use the preferences to turn of the notification beep. Otherwise everytime it blocks a pop-up, it chirps in triumph.

I wonder tho what this will do to companies that pay for their site maintenance with pop-up revenue. Not that it matters much to me.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-16-2003, 12:56 AM:

Rob, I think that noise you hear is a wav file, but I have not really looked for it. I might....and make a wav file to take its place. I'll let you guess what it sounds like if I do. [Big Grin]

I just looked. Yes, it is a wav file called popupblock.wav
it is a 12kb file. You can create one to take its place, and assign it through sounds amd multimedia properties in the control panel.

Now, I am going to make a new one. [Big Grin]

Posted by Robb Johnston (Member # 239) on 03-16-2003, 05:49 PM:

I would prefer no sound at all.

if you click on the pull down, the bottom selection is set preferences, and you can unclick the option to play a sound when a pop up has been supressed.

now it is all nice and quiet

Robb

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 04-22-2003, 02:38 PM:

Just an update. It is definately worth the effort to get a good quality well-written popup killer installed in your computer.....and don't leave home without it. They work!!!!