When did everyone stop caring about popups?

They are everywhere now, yet no one seems to be complaining. They were such a big deal before that the kind they were doing then got blocked on even the barest of webbrowsers that would never dream of having an adblock built in. Popups were the most horrible thing ever.

But slowly they made a comeback, and yet no one seems to be telling websites to stop or anything. I finally found an adblock list that is supposed to deal with them, but it just works by knowing the popular sites that do them and making a rule to hide them. There’s no one trying to just detect popups and stop them.

It’s just so annoying. If you think you need to popup up something to get my attention, it means your website is designed poorly. If I want to support you on social media, I would have already done that. Begging me doesn’t make me want to do it more. And in the rare event that your website is so freaking important that I need to subscribe to a newsletter, that’s something I’ll already do. If your content is good enough, you don’t need to do this shit.

Who is actually clicking the stuff and making this viable for any website? Okay, so some clickbait websites do it–where your target audience is not all that smart. But I just got back from an art gallery website that thinks this is a good idea.

So, I ask you, at what point did people just collectively throw up their hands and decide that they don’t care about popups? When did we decide that the thing that every webbrowser had to block is now no big deal? When did people decide that finding that X and clicking it every time you go to a page was just a part of surfing online?

(And, yes, MPSIMS because this is just an inconvenience. Still annoying as fuck!)

I got a blocker built into my Firefox.

Ad Blocker shields me from the harsh reality.

What does annoy me are the ways websites sometimes jerk around while they’re loading in hopes that you will accidentally click on an ad. Or like when you search for something in Youtube and what you’re looking for initially appears at the top, but you blink and suddenly an ad has replaced it. I hate that.

I’m not sure that this is intentional, though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did it. It think it usually happens because the ad, which is fetched from a different place, loads slower than the rest of the page. When the ad has loaded, it pushes the other content down. It’s a side effect of how pages are rendered. There are probably web developers here who can say something more intelligent about this.

I use Chrome and it seems to have pop up blocking built in. It will sometimes inform me that it has blocked a pop up, and give me the option to look at it.

I haven’t had a popup in years. I use Chrome with Adblock Plus. Social Fixer is great for getting rid of ads on Facebook, too.

Yeah, I’ve got blocker software. I never see a pop-up.

I suspect that those who’re bothered by popups use ad blocking software (AdBlock is good, but it’s far from the only option; shop around before you commit), and those don’t aren’t bothered enough to complain enough to get anything changed.

If you’re willing to probe a little deeper, there are programs and add-ons that can take out nearly anything you find objectionable; back in my Firefox days I was big user of NukeEverything and it’s bigger cousin, Remove It Permanently. It’s very easy to go overboard with page element removers, though- proceed carefully.

They are? I’m not running adblocker software – in fact, pretty much every browser I’m running on four different OSes is configured the way it came out of the (virtual) box. I can’t remember the last time I saw a pop-up.

clickbait? please?

I’m not sure about this, but from what I can understand, the OP seems to mean two different things by pop-ups. It’s true that you don’t see the old-style popup ads anymore. What the OP seems to be talking about is boxes that pop up on some websites, boxes run by the websites themselves, asking you to support them on social media, or subscribe to something, or share something, etc.

I’m not sure if these new “popup” boxes would count as ads, though.

This. I’ve got a heavily locked down box that I expect to see no pop-ups from and that’s what in fact I do see: no pop-ups.

But … My OOB box-stock tablet has no popups either.

Maybe I don’t go to the same kinds of sites as the OP. Or the OP has a malware infection.

I suspect EmilyG has it right; what the OP is talking about isn’t actually a popup in the traditional sense, but rather those ads that cover content inside the pane.

When?
About 2007, when Wladimir Palant developed AdBlocker+.

The only problem I’ve been having - and it’s a big one - is using Safari on my Mac. I was trying to order a new printer, and every time I clicked on a link, I got a full-page popup about “cleaning” my Mac. I finally gave up attempting the order. I’ll have to start all over, in Firefox. And yes, I have “Block pop-up windows” checked in Safari preferences.

The only intrusive ads I typically see are on my phone, with many mobile sites that pull a “here’s the page you want… WHOOPS first here’s a full page ad you have to press X to get rid of! Heh heh, PSYCHE!”

And I would give anything I own to get my thumbs on the flabby windpipe of whoever is responsible for the goddamn spontaneous redirects to the App Store pushing Clash of Clowns or Crunchy Candy Suckoff or whatever the brainless freemium piece of shit pay-to-win lab rat pleasure button social life replacement of the week happens to be.

Firefox on my Mac. Can’t recall the last time I saw a pop up ad. Have never downloaded anything to do the blocking, my device just does it.

I’m pretty sure this is why no one is complaining. Maybe it’s time to, y’know, think differently?

(Sounds like something specific to your device!)

I have Adblock, and I still see the slide across ones, and the in-window boxes. I don’t get separate, new window popups any more though.

And yes, we hates them we does.

Can I help, please?

i also hate when they hide the goddamn “X” that allows you to close the page. ARGH!

Or when they go “NO SERIOUSLY ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO CLOSE THIS WINDOW” when you close out of it.

Yes, I’m sure.

Assuming you’re on iOS, update to the latest. That’s not supposed to be able to happen any more without an explicit user action.