New Advertising Ridiculousness: Pop-Up Downloads

from the how-can-we-trick-you-today? dept

News.com is running an article about the latest trick that advertisers are using to mess with your computer: pop-up download advertising. Here's how it works. Instead of a regular advertisement or pop-up, the "advertisement" pops up a "Do you accept this download?" prompt. Most people, apparently, automatically click yes to such things, and suddenly they're downloading and installing all sorts of crap software that they really don't need or want. It appears that one of the biggest proponents of this is Gator, the same company that used to try to cover up ads on sites you surfed with their own ads. Gator says it's a viable way to expand their business. I always wonder about any business that requires tricking their own users into buying into the service. If you create a really compelling product, you don't need to trick anyone.

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