# Popups



## Guero

Hi,

Thank you for this great website. I use the dictionaries on an almost daily basis.

Although this is a free site and free sites are usually paid for by advertising, I'm annoyed by the popup/popunder ads. I'm a Firefox user and the popunder ads are specifically designed to defeat Firefox's popup blocker. I've clicked through banner ads on your site, but I'll never click on any popup on any site. They're intrusive and annoying and sometimes dangerous from a computer security standpoint.

Just my $.02. I know you have to make money to provide as valuable a service as you have here.

Regards,

Guero


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## Benjy

Guero said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> Thank you for this great website. I use the dictionaries on an almost daily basis.
> 
> Although this is a free site and free sites are usually paid for by advertising, I'm annoyed by the popup/popunder ads. I'm a Firefox user and the popunder ads are specifically designed to defeat Firefox's popup blocker. I've clicked through banner ads on your site, but I'll never click on any popup on any site. They're intrusive and annoying and sometimes dangerous from a computer security standpoint.
> 
> Just my $.02. I know you have to make money to provide as valuable a service as you have here.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Guero



therefore, what?

do you have any other ideas on how this site could exist in its current format without pop-ups?

please do not take this post to be aggressive, it's not supposed to be. i'm just curious to know if you have any ideas. you aren't the first to mention pop-ups as a source of annoyance


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## cuchuflete

Hi Guero,

Although I'm a moderator at times, I'm writing to you as a fellow member.
I'm using a Mac, OS X, Firefox [and sometimes Safari and once in a blue moon, IE].  When I am using the WordReference Forums, I never see any advertising.  That is, there are no popups, unders, or overs. 
When I go from the forums to the dictionaries, I suffer the same things that you do.  I don't care for it, but accept it as an unfortunate reality.

When I first started using Firefox, about 3 months back, there were no popunders or popovers...just banner ads.  The same was true with Safari, which had been my primary browser. I did receive browser messages telling me that popups had been blocked.

I draw this conclusion:  The ad makers have gotten clever, and the browser coders will have to become more clever still.  WR is somethng of a bystander and innocent victim in all of this.  

Usually I don't even know that a popunder has appeared until it's time to shut down, and then, when I close the forum, I find the damned things.  
Together with you, I would rather they ride off into the sunset, but I find that they are just a minor annoyance at the moment.

Regards,
Cuchuflete








			
				Guero said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> Thank you for this great website. I use the dictionaries on an almost daily basis.
> 
> Although this is a free site and free sites are usually paid for by advertising, I'm annoyed by the popup/popunder ads. I'm a Firefox user and the popunder ads are specifically designed to defeat Firefox's popup blocker. I've clicked through banner ads on your site, but I'll never click on any popup on any site. They're intrusive and annoying and sometimes dangerous from a computer security standpoint.
> 
> Just my $.02. I know you have to make money to provide as valuable a service as you have here.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Guero


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## el alabamiano

Hi, and welcome: I don't see ups & unders using Firefox, so perhaps you should re-check your settings!


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## lauranazario

el alabamiano said:
			
		

> Hi, and welcome: I don't see ups & unders using Firefox, so perhaps you should re-check your settings!


Yup, that sounds about right, Neal... Guero should either adjust his browser's settings and check if he has the latest version insitalled in his computer.
I'm an IE, Firefox & Safari user and I don't encounter that problem.

Saludos,
LN


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## Guero

Hi Benjy,

I didn't take your response as aggressive. Like I said. Just my 2 cents. This is, after all, a forum for comments and suggestions.

There are two very prominent Flash ads on the top and right of the dictionary pages. I'm much more likely to click on those (and thus provide revenue to the site) than on a popunder that tries to fool me into thinking that my computer is infected with spyware so I'll buy spyware removal software. Of course I'm not privy to the expenses involved in keeping the site running and I realize that those ads alone might not be enough. I like that the forums have no advertising, but that's an area where the site is losing revenue. I certainly won't stop using the site because of popups, but I'd prefer not to see them.

Thanks for your response.



			
				Benjy said:
			
		

> therefore, what?
> 
> do you have any other ideas on how this site could exist in its current format without pop-ups?
> 
> please do not take this post to be aggressive, it's not supposed to be. i'm just curious to know if you have any ideas. you aren't the first to mention pop-ups as a source of annoyance


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## Guero

Hi Cuchuflete,



			
				cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Hi Guero,
> When I first started using Firefox, about 3 months back, there were no popunders or popovers...just banner ads. The same was true with Safari, which had been my primary browser. I did receive browser messages telling me that popups had been blocked.


 
I've read on the Firefox forums that web designers have learned how to fool Firefox's popup blocker. I've experienced this on a few other sites. I'm hoping the Firefox team will make some improvements to their popup blocker to combat this problem.



			
				cuchuflete said:
			
		

> ...WR is somethng of a bystander and innocent victim in all of this.


 
I disagree somewhat with your last statement. Just as I can choose whether or not to still use the site, WR is responsible for the content and method of advertising on the site. Putting aside questions of revenue for a moment, WR can choose whether or not to allow popups to be served on their site.

Thanks to everyone else for your suggestions. My popup settings are correct.


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## mkellogg

Hello pop-under haters!

I look forward to your donation of the thousands of dollars that it takes to run these websites.  With that donation, this site would be able to survive without such advertising.

Maybe my computer works differently than yours does.  When faced with a pop-under advertisement, I just click the "X" in the top right corner and that closes the ad.  With a little practice it takes far less time than sitting through a set of commercials on TV.

Also, these pop-up blockers have gotten to be a fact of life now.  So, this site will probably soon join many others in showing advertisements that obscure the content of the site for a few seconds before you are allowed to see it.  See how well the blockers will lead sites to use more intrusive advertising to pay the bills!

Mike
WordReference.com


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## mkellogg

Also, please do not believe Guero's misinformation.  Pop-ups do not cause any  security issues that I have heard of.


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## Guero

I gather by your sarcastic tone that people complaining about popups is a source of frustration for you. I'm sorry. I posted a *comment* in the forum marked *Comment and Suggestions. *I made every effort to be civil and constructive and would have appreciated the same courtesy.

If you don't wish to receive comments and suggestions I'll leave you with a final suggestion - don't have a forum called *Comments and Suggestions.*



			
				mkellogg said:
			
		

> Hello pop-under haters!
> 
> I look forward to your donation of the thousands of dollars that it takes to run these websites. With that donation, this site would be able to survive without such advertising.
> 
> Maybe my computer works differently than yours does. When faced with a pop-under advertisement, I just click the "X" in the top right corner and that closes the ad. With a little practice it takes far less time than sitting through a set of commercials on TV.
> 
> Also, these pop-up blockers have gotten to be a fact of life now. So, this site will probably soon join many others in showing advertisements that obscure the content of the site for a few seconds before you are allowed to see it. See how well the blockers will lead sites to use more intrusive advertising to pay the bills!
> 
> Mike
> WordReference.com


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## Guero

mkellogg said:
			
		

> Also, please do not believe Guero's misinformation. Pop-ups do not cause any security issues that I have heard of.


 
I doubt that FastClick is involved in exploiting Windows security issues using popups, and I was not meaning to imply that visiting your site was a security risk. However there are REAL security issues involved with popups. This is not misinformation. I would be happy to provide some sources to support that statement.


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## cuchuflete

Hi Guero,

I'm back again, having had a little time to read all the comments and even make an attempt at thought. So, for the consideration of anyone who may care...

1. The Forums are totally ad and even promotion free. As a mod, I spend a fair amount of time and put lots of effort into keeping them this way. You and I both appreciate that luxury.
2. Please invoke the "No free lunch" theorum!!!
3. According to some of those who have posted already, browser and/or other software can block many, if not all popups/unders etc.
4. I realized that I had turned off the Firefox blocker, so that I could receive instant
PM notification.  I'll leave it turned off for WordReference...it's a good trade-off for me.

5. There is still no free lunch! If we want the forums to continue, the costs for software and professional programming time still have to be paid. 

Best regards,
Cuchu

PS- If Windows security is really at risk due to the millions of ads on the web, there are alternatives...such as Unix machines like the Mac.


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## Guero

All good points. Thank you for your response.


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## cuchuflete

Guero said:
			
		

> All good points. Thank you for your response.


My pleasure!  Thanks to your post I've learned something about promotional technology.  Hope to see you in the language and culture forums.

Cuchu


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## lsp

Because of my work, I have a MAC with OS 9 and OSX, and a PC with Windows 95, 98 and 2000 (don't ask, it's not even that technical a job). I have to use (daily) 3 versions of Netscape, 2 of Explorer, Safari, Firefox and occasionally Opera. 

The newest popunders are immune to free browser settings to block popup ads. In order to defeat them you need the kind you pay for, or to be patient until the browsers issue new releases to handle the new code.

I get popunders on every platform and browser (they are all set to block, and I just go a few extra steps when I get a PM) when, as Cuchu said, traveling between forums and dictionaries.

That's fact. This is opinion. I hate them. I would rather see almost any other kind of advertising, including on page banners.


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## DesertCat

I don't like popup/under/over ads though I don't mind the ads on the front page.  I even click on them if they're of interest.  I don't know what/who decides which ads show up on the site, but it would make more sense to have ads that are related to language and I don't see many if any of those.


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## fetchezlavache

i have never seen any popup, popunder, banner, or even add on the wordreference website (forum or dictionary).

i use a 'cover' of ie for a browser, _avant browser_.
i use _outpost_ as a firewall and i think it's supposed to block adverts.

that's all. i'm pretty much free of any popup and popunder on any of the sites i visit..


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