Countdown to Countdown

Man, I was in eager anticipation for what happened when this countdown reached zero:



But instead of something interesting, some message indicating that I had failed, or some reward for watching the ad without closing it for a whole minute, it rewarded me by....starting the countdown over!

Fortunately, I am easily amused; as a matter of fact, I've got it open on my desktop right now to help me with all my countdown needs.

Grab That....Heart, Yeah, Heart

Angelfire, the free Web hosting bunch, is throwing up this ad as part of its handful (two or more) that display when you load a page hosted there:



Capture Her Heart and get a....

Well, friends, what do you think it is?

• A slap for improper use of hands?
  
  
• A restraining order for the same?
  
  
• Immortality, power, or whatever that guy in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was after?
  
  
• Lesson in proper use of capital letters from an expert, such as the one who wrote this tag line?

Feel free to invent your own!

Also, Get a Free Apostrophe

Not only do you get an unfree (at least, that's what I assume the footnote says) PlayStation 2 with this ad, you get a free extra apostrophe!



You can use that apostrophe anywhere you would like, including places where it doesn't naturally go!

Four Out Of Five Dentists Hate Pop-Up Ads

Hey, Colgate, you're not building any good brand karma when you throw full motion-and-sound commercial pop-under ads like this one: You better just learn your lesson, or I am going to tell the world that Colgate contains sodium lauryl sulfate, a substance that poses a significant cancer risk.

Tickle Me This

Dear Tickle:

I really would like to help you by debugging this annoying pop-under ad you sent me:



My company charges $65 an hour for debugging services. Please let us know if we can be of service, and if not service, at least as much annoyance as you are.

Most Pop-Up Click Throughs Are Accidents

Techdirt links to a story about a study that indicates that up to 90% of all pop-up ad click throughs are accidental.

And the other 10% all have x10 cameras aimed at their 4ug3 Manh00!!d even as we speak.

Probably not, but I have to wonder if that other ten percent isn't "accidental" because the ads themselves are designed in such a fashion as to deceive the user into clicking through with a jpeg close button.

Am I Duffer Or Not?

Another blogger has a problem with an Orbitz pop-up ad.

The real question, unanswered, is did he click?

Subtlety Is For The Unsuccessful

Hey, all right, check out the latest pop-under dished up courtesy the "free" Web counters from Bravenet:


Click for full size

It's a full-size browser window advertising a company that can help you successfully part with your money:

What is Lain-Hamp Co.? We’re a successful Home-Based Mail Order-Information Sales/Network-Marketing company that has put together a collection some of the best income/business opportunities; online advertising tools; Traffic Builders and Lead Generators all on one user-friendly Website! Our main focus is helping YOU to succeed in your business venture; because when YOU succeed we succeed. Mail Order/Network-Marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry. Never before has there been an industry that has more untapped potential to help so many people than the Network Marketing industry. It is also a proven equal opportunity business that is very easy to maintain not to mention the fact that it can offer very nice profits too!

Scroll through several screens worth of turgid prose, and you get the contact information:

Contact Information

Elaine Hampton – Owner

Lain@myeweb.com

OFFICE HOURS

Monday – Friday

(10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST)

Business Phone

(847) 778-0479

Fax Number

(847) 625-8483



Yeek, what a n00b.

Protect that IP!

You've all seen the common Classmates.com ads, which ask things like "She's a model now?" (Yeah, a model prisoner!). However, I just noticed that these particular ads block the context menu. Right click on them, and you get a special message box:



Oops. Once you right-click, you're hosed; now, with a click of the OK button, you're at the mercy of Classmates.com. Fortunately, they're either merciful or inept, because the result is an empty browser window:



I am guessing inept. Notice the stray character in the title of the first ad: Where are your old friends now? b - Microsoft Internet Explorer.

How did they know my first initial?

That's Just Creepy

Here's a pop-under for a new dating service:



Looks like everything else, huh? Check out the titlebar:

X10 - Microsoft Internet Explorer

You mean the same purveyors of voyeur cameras? You think that freak magnet might not be ironic?

Probably not, since the ad depicts an up-skirt view waiting to happen.

Be Careful Out There, Fans.

CNet has the story on Pop-up program reads keystrokes, steals passwords.

Remember, practice safe computing: come to Pop-Up Mocker whenever you want to see a pop-up.