# Stopping the "pop-ups" asking you to enter email
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 3, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747 "2016-05-03T01:45:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747/1 "2016-05-03T01:45:10Z")
MANY websites I visit will “pop-up” a screen asking to enter your email address, often in exchange for a coupon code or the like - is there any way to stop them?
I am using Chrome 50.0.2661.94 with the “Do not allow any site to show pop-ups” setting enabled on OS X 10.11.1, with Adblock Plus installed.
(I am guessing these are not “pop-ups” in the conventional sense - if not, what are they called?)
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### Author:  [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747/2 "2016-05-03T03:28:27Z")
I’ll just offer a handful of ideas:
[ul]
[li]Have you actually subscribed to a list of filters in adblock plus? Without a list, the extension itself does nothing.[/li][li]Try something like ghostery which blocks a lot of the widgets and scripts sites use to track you (I’ve had good luck with this in the past)[/li][li] With one of these pages loaded, launch the adblock interface that lets select items on a page to block. Then look for a script with a name containing “signup”, “email”, or something like that[/li][/ul]
If some of these ideas seem insultingly obvious, I apologize. I’ve always found it best to under-estimate a persons skill level when assisting with tech.
To your second question, What you’re seeing is likely an iframe (short for inline frame) created by a script. The term “pop-up” refers to a new web browser window (with a border, scroll bars, etc.) that appears over top of the current one. If the window just opens but doesn’t steal focus (i.e. become the focus of mouse/keyboard input) it’s called a pop-under. BOth of these are increasingly rare because they’re so commonly blocked
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### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747/3 "2016-05-03T03:56:52Z")
Thanks for the reply -
No offense taken - I think I’m moderately competent, but certainly could be missing something obvious…yes, I am subscribed to the EasyList filter under Adblock Plus, and generally do not see typical web ads.
I have used the “Block Element” feature of Adblock Plus successfully for other ads, but it does not work on these sorts of features (which, to confirm, do not open a new browser window.)
To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, I was just looking at the Road & Track magazine website ([roadandtrack.com](http://roadandtrack.com)) and the screen was taken overlaid by a message (which in the corner said “Powered by Bounce Exchange”) asking for an email address to sign up for savings on a subscription or whatever…I am seeing these _constantly_ on various sites (and can’t think that others are not experiencing the same) and am wondering if there is a general way to stop them.
I am unfamiliar with ghostery but will look into it.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747/4 "2016-05-03T04:03:31Z")
I use adblock and a script blocker. The script blocker kills a lot of popups but it also breaks a lot of web sites. I enter exceptions for sites that I use (like the SDMB).
If you are getting the same or similar popups on different sites I would suspect malware.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747/5 "2016-05-08T19:12:07Z")
Since they just use code on the site that can be easily used for more legitimate things, there’s no real way to block them other than to get a list.
I subscribe to the Fanboy Annoyances list in my adblocker, which has a list of some of them, but some get through. The list is built in as an option for uBlock Origin. If you use Adblock Plus, you can install it from [here](https://www.fanboy.co.nz/).
Though, at this point uBlock Origin is pretty much just as functional as ABP.
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### Author:  [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-the-pop-ups-asking-you-to-enter-email/753747/6 "2016-05-08T19:17:56Z")
I use a script blocker which blocks most everything. I have to right click to add exceptions as I go to see stuff I want to. It’s annoying at first but once I’ve logged the exceptions I need it’s great.