The Pop-up ad is a new method of
internet advertising evolved from basic banner ads. They are usually made with Javascript and automatically open on any site that contains the code for it. They are used on websites to forcefully grab the attention of the user by popping it up in front of the user's application.
Commercial websites generally use pop-up ads as a means of profit to help make their services either cheap or free.
When used moderately, pop-ups can be a very effective means of advertising. However, websites containing illegal or pornographic material usually abuse the pop-up and may contain hundreds of pop-up ads that when closed, trigger even more ads. This can discourage the user from ever visiting that website again. A fine flash website, http://www.newgrounds.com was ruined because of its provacative ads. However, not all hope is lost.
There are several ways to disable pop-up ads. The easiest way, if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer is to go into the security panel, select the custom options button, and disable javascript. However, some sites require pop-ups to function and disabling pop-up ads completely may be undesirable. Instead, one can download software that will filter pop-up ads, automatically closing or disabling them as they come up by scanning the title or information in the ad. A very good one is the SIP (Surf in Peace) software distributed by Iconlabs.net. It takes up very little space and has virtually no strain on an average PC processor and is very customizable with a wide range of options such as disabling pop-ups by size, name, and keywords.