I must concur.
Recently, on a slow day at work, I was discreetly looking at the Dope when a voice suddenly boomed “CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’VE WON!”
This earned me a dirty look from my boss, and I stayed away from the Dope for the rest of the day, and think twice before logging in now. (And no, I didn’t stick around to see what I’d “won,” so the ad was a double fail.)
I know there are benefits to becoming a Member, and I may yet do so one day, but not because I feel blackmailed into it by the ability to surf quietly.
Could you please report where you are? That may help us pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from, as ads are served up based on ip address, which tend to be semi-geographic. The names of the offending companies would likewise be useful.
Use Firefox. Install AdBlockPlus and FlashBlock extensions. Problem will never recur, not ever, ever, ever. Not even one time. Ads are for losers. And IE users.
IE has a third party adblocker as well…IE7pro (and it works for IE8 despite the name). I really fail to see what the constant hate for IE is; I’ve used it for 13 years and never have had a problem and don’t even have an anti-virus program installed (I have MSE, but it is turned off). I can’t stand the Firefox interface.
Our ad guy informs me that we have our remnant ad preferences set up so we don’t get ads with sound. However, ads with user-initiated sound are exempt from this filter. The world of advertising has defined user-initiated to include “you ran your mouse over the ad.” Apparently this accounts for the noisy Jack in the Box ads seen here a while back. Keep your mouse away from ads and you shouldn’t hear sound.