Intrusive ad on Fodor website

Old Feb 9th, 2002, 06:11 AM
  #1  
Perla
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Intrusive ad on Fodor website

Has anyone else tried to use the main "destinations" part of the Fodors website and had a large animated ad for Quebec pop up and obliterate most of the screen while you were trying to read the screen? There's no way to shut the thing down (no "x" in the top right of it, because it's a free-form ad), you just have to sit there until it gets tired and goes away. It seems more like a virus to me than anything else.

If this is the new strategy for web adverts, I'm really annoyed. I've written the editors, but wonder if anyone has encountered the same thing here or on any other website. And does it bother anyone else?
 
Old Feb 9th, 2002, 06:19 AM
  #2  
Jen
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I have found this to be extremely annoying and Fodors.com should be responsible for getting rid of it. Not only do I not want to go to Canada, I also no longer feel like using this website.
 
Old Feb 9th, 2002, 06:20 AM
  #3  
s.fowler
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I haven't seen the one here, but I have at other sites. Basicly they are making us sit though the "commercial" before we get the program. Unfortunately there is no "mute" button My sense is that this kind of thing is only going to get worse. I understand the need to pay for the bandwidth we use, and I have the right to "vote" by not using sites that do those aggresive ads.
 
Old Feb 9th, 2002, 02:22 PM
  #4  
Al
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Here's help. Install Web Washer on your computer FREE. Just go to www.find.pcworld.com/19661 and install the free program. It eliminates all those annoying imposed ads.
 
Old Feb 9th, 2002, 04:37 PM
  #5  
anon
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Installing an ad, on their own web site, trying to generate some revenue so that they can continue to offer great free public services like this forum.

How dare they?
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 07:39 AM
  #6  
Dave
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I imagine that it costs millions to set up and maintain this site. It ain't free. If it shut down because of lack of revenue, we would all be the losers.

 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 08:05 AM
  #7  
frank
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If Fodors sees a big drop in visits after deploying this ad they will drop it.
If enough visitors think it worthwhile to sit through it then it will stay.
Please do not even consider posting
bad things about what a horrifyingly boring & dangerous place Quebec is in order to scare the sponsors away & annoy the site editors.This is very effective, but would you really want it on your conscience?
Heaven forfend!
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 08:07 AM
  #8  
amanda
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es, experienced the same thing on Fodors web site.
Has put me off - doubt I'll use this site again
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 09:20 AM
  #9  
Marc David Miller
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Do you not watch commercial television because of the ads? Unless commercial web sites charge a subscription fee, they had to make revenue from advertising or sponsorship of some sort.
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 01:33 PM
  #10  
Jase
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MDM -- you knee-jerk capitalist -- did you not understand that WE GET that perhaps ad revenue may have to support this site, but nowhere is it written that we have to put up with annoying ads that, in fact, obscure the actual content of the forum.

This is as if a giant Time Warner Road Runner were leaping across the screen in the middle of regular programming.

My guess is that this type of advertising won't survive simply because it's far more annoying than memorable and defeats the purpose of the site in the process.
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 02:11 PM
  #11  
Barry
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For what it's worth -- I listen to talk radio a lot and a few weeks ago there was an internet ad exec as a guest on the show I was listening to. Many, many callers called up and let it be known how much they hate automatic pop-up ads.
His response was that they are fully aware of that, as determined by in-depth market research. He went on to say that the pop-ups are, by far (like %20+), more likely to make a sale than the static banner ads which requires clicking. He said the logic behind the pop-ups is not unlike subliminal tactics -- just to 'burn' a product into the consumers mind. It doesn't matter if they despise it or close it immediately - the consumer was exposed. He concluded that topic by saying this type of ad, being the most productive, will only continue to grow in popularity in the future.
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 02:26 PM
  #12  
Anonyimouse
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Fodors could always make this a pay site and then wouldn't need the revenue from the advertisers. Now, how many of you would pay to use Fodors? Probably not many.
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 02:30 PM
  #13  
Knee-jerk Capitalist
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Jase, I like that appellation!

I also get annoyed at the British Airways "sideways" ad on The New York Times' site--but tolerate it.
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 04:46 PM
  #14  
Rex
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To MDM, er... I mean, KJC - - nice new nickname!

Best wishes - - and free markets, forever...

Rex
 
Old Feb 10th, 2002, 05:44 PM
  #15  
Jase
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I don't believe "pop-up" ads are exactly the same as what was bedeviling the Fodors site.

The classic "pop-up" ad is the extra, separate window that pops up when you click on a new web page, and it usually has it's own frame with the small boxes to minimize or close it in the upper right corner. They can lurk as a separate window in the background or foreground until you close them, but you have some control over that.

Those are bad enough, but what Perla et al are complaining about are the non-windowed ads that are smeared across the primary page -- indeed much like a virus or that annoying "Felix" kitty that some people seem to enjoy having romp around their screen. The viewer has no control over when and where they appear.

While both types of ads "pop-up," I think we need separate terms for the two different types.

And you are quite welcome to the KJC appellation. Once upon a time the word "capitalist" had really terrible connotations, while "liberal" was bland or even positive. I merely think it's time to restore those values, which makes me literally but not politically a reactionary!
 

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