Cheryl Baumgartner   Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
They are annoying. Although my pop up blocker normally zaps them, every so often one get's through.
Nov 20th 2007 19:15   

Mark Hultgren   Wordpress Specialist
When they are written in DHTML, pop up blockers think they are just p[art of the page itself (which they are, in a hidden <div>
They have been shown to increase sales by as much as 30%, but I would use them for an exit survey once in a while. To get some feedback from my visitors on what they thought of the site and what they were looking for.
Nov 20th 2007 23:09   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
Using them for an exit survey wouldn't be too bad - could tolerate
that, and you did say once in a while. :-)

Increased sales of 30% ? Really? That's a good percentage,
but I still don't like them.
Nov 20th 2007 23:22   

Eric Smith   Online Professional
What i hate is when you get to a site that has a pop up and the pop up has a pop up and that pop up has a pop up and that pop up has a pop up...

Now that i have been online for nearly a decade i have got used to what sites look dodgy and what look acceptable. I must have had to reformat my original computer 10 times in my first 12 months online... I haven't had to do that in about 6 years.

You can almost be guaranteed that if you navigate to a site that has multiple pop-ups you are 90% likely to pick up a virus.
Nov 21st 2007 00:52   

Arthur Webster   Just plain honesty
These exit ads are not only a damned nuisance I cannot really believe that they increase sales by 30%.

They might have done, to start with but now we are used to them (after all, at $7 a pop - anybody can afford to have them on their site) and. like those stupid peel off ads -I think most people tend to ignore them (as far as you can ignore something that takes at least two clicks to get rid of).

The daftest ones are those that say someone would like to chat to you before you leave - a virtual on line person who will assure you, as many times as you care to ask that they are a virtual on line person called Debra but who will not answer any other question. Sometimes it is worth going through this one if you want the product being advertised because, 9 times out of 10, you will get a substantial discount by giving up some of the bonuses.

Let's face it, the formula is guru driven - you buy what's on the page at a discount and SURPRISE SURPRISE here comes the up-sell!

It's like a dance we all know the steps to but, in my case, I can't hear the music!
Nov 21st 2007 03:25   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
Think I'm becoming a cynic about most online ads - mostly I just think,
"Oh, yeah" or "Get real" and move on. And if there are exit popups,
then I just get even more firmly against purchasing that product.

Maybe I'm missing out on some bargains? Don't know, but I think
I'll keep my money. :-)
Nov 29th 2007 17:10   

Ben Ferm   Manager
I was surfing for credits on one of the TE's earlier today, when I really hit the jackpot.

3 popups and 2 popunders from the same french site. Must be some kind of a record. Don't these people understand that the viewer of their site gets so annoyed that they don't give a s-it about what the site really is all about?
Nov 30th 2007 03:52   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
Yep, Ben, you're the current record holder!

Any other contenders for the top spot?
Nov 30th 2007 17:25   

Mark Hultgren   Wordpress Specialist
I don't care for them either. I had some code that would do a timed exit pop up so you could set it to something like 2 minutes after the visitor left the site, so you wouldn't really know where it came from.
Dec 1st 2007 00:46   

Arthur Webster   Just plain honesty
Hi, MKWeb,

Wouldn't such a time delay indicate your own reluctance to be using such an intrusive form of advertising?

I wonder, if you used the script, how many people saw ithe pop up and feared that their computer had been compromised and stopped what they were doing to run a virus scan.

Presumably this would be what the gurus like to call a 'black hat' tool?
Dec 1st 2007 00:52   

Theresa   
UGH. Don't get me started!!! LOL

Pop ups, Pop unders, Exit ads... One time offers --- they ALL drive me nutz and trust me - I am nutz enough already. I don't need to be asked if I am sure. I am Sure!
Dec 1st 2007 11:11   

Eric Smith   Online Professional
I "kinda" use a similar style for an Aweber subscribe box on one of my sites. I have it set to fade in about 30 seconds after the page loads...

That would pose an interesting question... would a subscribe fade in or pop-up that is only 300px by 300px be the same as a "full page" website pop-up ?
Dec 1st 2007 15:55   

Jean DAndrea   Retired
Hi Eric,

Don't think a fade out exit ad would be so annoying as an ordinary one,
but it's still an exit ad. Like the idea of fadeout, so long as you can
exit the page without those extra clicks.
Dec 1st 2007 16:23   

Mark Hultgren   Wordpress Specialist
Hi OC,
It is a Grey Hat method at least. The idea is to post the pop up after they have left your site to see if they are interested in the product and if they are, to return them to your site. So many times people will click on a link on your site that takes them off on a tangent and then can't find their way back.
Dec 1st 2007 19:58   

Arthur Webster   Just plain honesty
There is an aspect to these exit ads that has not been raised yet so maybe not many people are affected.

I certainly am.

If I want to get more details about a service or product, (or even buy it) it is necessary to fill in a form.

There must be other people who use 'auto fill' for this purpose.

Guess what - you can't use 'auto fill' because you have moved your cursor off the page and an exit ad pops up.

From my point of view, if I am denied use of the facilities I have installed on my computer, my interest disappears and I often save money because no purchase takes place.
Dec 2nd 2007 03:53   

Mark Hultgren   Wordpress Specialist
OC,
That will depend on what software you are using to track your sales. The script I use is based on your email address, once you get to the purchase point, you are asked for your email address to pull your info from the database, so when you are ready to check out, most of your info is already filled out (I cannot track any payment processing info, just name, email and any other info you provide during registration.) Credit Card numbers and account info is encrypted so even I cannot see it using the MD5 Hash.
So even if I were to use a delayed pop up, the purchase mechanism will still pull your info when you input your email once you have either registered as a member or made a minimum of one purchase.
Granted, this script is not for the beginner to set up and attempt to run a site on, but I am building some videos (and PDF's for the folks that like to ingest the info on their own terms :-)) ) that will walk them through creating a package, adding a product, upload the promotional items, create a campaign and getting the tracking links to promote the products. All of the above items are done inside the script, so you can imagine it is not one you can install and run with without a little reading.
I use this script to manage all of my resale products, memberships and even the OTO's!
Dec 2nd 2007 14:46   

Arthur Webster   Just plain honesty
Hi, MKWeb,

All that you say is very true apart from one thing - I don't input anything - I get blasted by some blasted ad saying 'before you blasted well leave.....' - and so I leave.

As I said, I do not appreciate the use of a programme I am paying for being denied to me because some idiot trying to sell me something thinks it is clever to have a bit of software that can't tell the difference between me going to a tool bar (in order to sign up or send him some money) and me going to the exit button.

It has saved me spending some money and receiving a few news letters.

See? I get to the purchase point and I am then dissuaded - why should I type out my email address and all the other necessary details when I have a programme to do it for me?

Dec 2nd 2007 15:00   

Mark Hultgren   Wordpress Specialist
You can use your program to fill out the forms on my sites. I do! I use Roboform to track most of my logins and passwords (and even a couple alter egos that I use for the giveaway sites!)
Dec 2nd 2007 15:51   

Arthur Webster   Just plain honesty
There you go.

There is always an exception to prove a rule.

I must get round to visiting.
Dec 2nd 2007 16:04   

Ben Ferm   Manager
Well now....

New record for annoying pop-ups! A malfunctioning loop for a pop-up caused me 28 new windows before I got it stopped. THAT was annoying. :)
Dec 5th 2007 02:53