BYTE MARKS
Make those pesky PC pop-up ads bite the dust
By Burt Lum
Judging from the response I got from my foray into the realm of pop-up ads, many of you are equally bothered by the annoyance. This form of advertising occurs when you are visiting your favorite Web site and — BAM! — up pops an ad window selling insurance or little spy cams. I've tolerated it in the past but now I despise it. At least banner ads don't feel as invasive as those in-your-face windows.
To my chagrin, several readers pointed out the irony of my article, since the online version of www.honoluluadvertiser.com pops up ads to get to Bytemarks and other articles. Nevertheless, at the risk of biting the hand that feeds me, here are more suggestions to rid your Web surfing experience of pop-up ads.
Keith Kamisugi, the former spokesperson of Verizon Hawaii who now lives in the Bay Area, wrote in suggesting I check out www.panicware.com. This full-featured package looks like it can more than adequately do the job, but because of the price tag, albeit small, users like myself might favor freeware products. And there are many out there.
Check out www.webattack.com/Freeware/misctools/fwpopblock.shtml. This tip comes courtesy of Bob Weaver. The site lists freeware and shareware options.
One that caught my interest was Analogx POW! You can download it from the WebAttack site or directly from the developer's site at www.analogx.com. POW! works with all the major Web browsers and appears in the Windows toolbar, at the bottom of your screen next to the clock. Whenever a pop-up window appears, you can select the pop-up and POW! — send it to the ban list.
Another freeware product with high marks comes recommended by another reader. Her choice is NoAds, also found on WebAttack or from www.southbaypc.com/NoAds/. NoAds works much like POW! by appearing in the Windows toolbar. It logs all open windows and any pop-ups you want to kill. One difference from POW! is its readymade list of annoying pop-up sources.
All of the recommendations I received were for Window PCs. So where are the Mac versions? Let's hear your choice. ;-)
Burt Lum is one click away at burt@brouhaha.net.
