I'VE HAD IT! Website programmers are morons. Website owners are greedy morons.

[Armstead]

Marketing 101. Don't punch your customer in the nose when he enters your store, if you want to make a sale.

I've just about given up ever clicking on any links to articles or videos here, on Facebook, and in general.

I've just about given up using the godddamn Internet for anything, except for a few sites like DU that are reasonably well behaved.

Why? EVERY TIME i click on a link to aan article or ovideo appearing, I get hijacked by pop-ups, automatic videos, mandatory "surveys" that must be filled out to see the content...and god knows what else. I feel lucky if I even get to see the content.

And it's gotten so bad that I'd say its about a 50-50 chance my browser is going to either freeze for an ungodly amount of time, or crash altogether whenever I visit a web page.

I'm not against websites wanting to make a few bucks. In fact I work for a different form of advertising supported free media (newspaper) and I am very sympathetic for the neeed to generate revenue. I don't mind looking at ads.

But fercryingoutloud, can't they be smart enough to embed simple ads that do not use Flash, scripts and all that other crap to get your attention, and scream at you and prevent you from seeing the thing you came for?

I wish these geniuses webmasters and marketing experts would use a little simple basic common sense, and not make the exprience of visiting a website so miserable that people stay away.

[Brickbat]

1. Adblock. Try it.

[Armstead]

2. I have. Lost it when upgraded computer but will try again.

But it;s a matter of principle.

I hate stupidity.

[MuseRider]

4. I lost it too

and cannot wait to get it back. It is horrid trying to read anything. Today I had a full page ad come up that was a video and it took me almost the entire video to find the little x to close it. Grrrr.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. Flashblock...try it.

and Ghostery blocks a lot of videos too.

When the surveys pop up, I just add them to the Ad Block list.

[MuseRider]

28. Thanks.

I am using Edge right now and I don't think anything is there for it yet. I can always go back to my FireFox, I have been using that forever and kinda like Edge right now. I ended up downloading something called Peerblock. I don't know yet if it helps, I just did it. Apparently there will be some blocks coming out soon for Edge. Hopefully Adblock will be one of them, I found it was very helpful.

I appreciate this I will look it up.

[Archae]

72. I went back to Internet Explorer...

From Edge.

Edge simply sucks.

But Adblock works now, for me.

[MuseRider]

73. I kinda like it

but I have to admit, the way I use the Internet it does not take a lot to please me. I figure it will get better as they get feedback. I like that it is pretty bare and simple on the outset with more available. I got tired of bells and whistles that just made things slow.

[Salviati]

26. I agree, I used to understand that website owners needed to make a buck...

but the full page, unskippable, autoplaying video ads were a bridge too far. The first time I saw one of those, I downloaded adblock and haven't looked back since. I whitelist a few select sites that I want to make sure do well, but as for the rest of them:

[Ed Suspicious]

44. This.

[backscatter712]

75. Adblock Plus works. uBlock or uBlock Origin works better.

uBlock and uBlock Origin use the same blocklists as Adblock Plus, but they're more efficient and faster.

[Hestia]

80. Agreed, less bloated with code too that can slow down your system. Ublock is great.

[Shandris]

3. Firefox is very, very simple to use and...

...includes, with 2 simple add-ons, a way to kill out about 99.9% of that tripe. If you can use IE or Edge, you can use Firefox. I promise.

The add-ons are called Adblock Edge (don't waste your time with regular Adblock Plus, it allows paid ads) and NoScript. With NoScript, you'll need to 'turn on' scripts for it to work**, but there demonstration on the site is very straightforward and any NS user could help you if you have problems.

Starve the beast. Ads determine what gets coverage, and ads don't metric justice. Starve the beast.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

**This will make more sense as you look at the add-on, even if it seems contradictory right now.

[Armstead]

9. I went to FF addons and said Adblock edge has been discontinued

I did put ad plus on...will see it that make it tolerable

[BuckIA]

14. I just switched from ABP to uBlock - Firefox runs noticably faster and still no ads.

[dixiegrrrrl]

41. I installed Ad Blocl Plus Pop Up, am testing it out.

It is used with Ad Block Plus, to stop the latest flurry of pop ups.

also, I use Chromium about half the time and never see ads there for some reason.

[PowerToThePeople]

5. It is a neverending cat and mouse game

I probably need to update my dns blacklist and firewall rules, been a while. But, I have not noticed any adverts getting through.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Don't blame the programmers.

[Armstead]

10. They should tell their clients/bosses, "This is not going to be good for your site or business"

[DavidDvorkin]

11. They may well have done so

And been ignored/overruled. That's a common experience.

[hootinholler]

17. Yep, GMTA lol. n/t

[Armstead]

20. In those cases, you're right

But I hope they at least tried to impart some common sense first.

[SusanCalvin]

51. But it doesn't stand a very good chance of getting listened to. nt

[we can do it]

66. Exactly.

[we can do it]

65. That always works well - NEVER. They tell you what they want because they know everything.

[Armstead]

67. Then that would go under the second statement in the headline OP

[we can do it]

69. Not really because most sites bombard everyone with crap.

They really don't care if you don't like it or if the designer advises against it. You will shop there/read/watch videos or be further inconvenienced by going elsewhere

[we can do it]

64. ^This x 1000

[onehandle]

7. Adblock as mentioned above. Apple is about to screw Google and other ad spammers on mobile.

As of iOS 9, 'Content Blocking' will be allowed.

Basically, you will be able to install extensions to block ads, horrible javascript, and other intrusions.

[Armstead]

13. I look forward to that.

[Lee-Lee]

21. Good- I'm so tired of ads with a scripts that open the app store

Always for some crappy game. I've even had it happen a few time here on DU.

[onehandle]

23. Me too, recently.

I surf to DU in Safari on my iPhone, then suddenly, I'm in the App Store.

Sheesh!

[TM99]

77. Sadly, this will only be on the browser, Safari.

Apple's own iAdds will still be running rampant in the apps that are not premium, and they are just as shitty and spammy as web ones.

[Logical]

8. Well, since the sites are free, how do you expect them to pay....

The fucking bills? I bet you whine about TV commercials also???

[Armstead]

15. UM did you read my post all the way through? Please do.

I will accept your apology after that.

[NYC Liberal]

27. Ads are no longer just an annoyance. They are a security issue.

Very few sites host their own ads. They use ad networks, many of which have a history of pushing malware.

I've turned Adblock off, and within 10 minutes of regular browsing had my computer grind to a halt, CPU at 100% usage, and two virus alerts from infected ads.

I have Adblock set to whitelist ads which are known not to use excessive bandwidth (auto-playing video or sound, animation, etc) and are hosted by ad networks known to be safe. If ads don't meet those criteria, screw them.

[Armstead]

29. Is there a list somewhere of those safe ad networks?

I'm not averse to all ads. Just the sneaky and intrusive ones.

[NYC Liberal]

34. Do you use Adblock Plus?

https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads

Those are the instructions.

Btw -- I see many did not read your post. I think you're like me: I'm okay with unobtrusive ads. But many ads use excessive bandwidth, obstruct the page (like the full screen overlays "LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!&quot , or freeze up the browser because they rely on dozens of scripts from third-party ad networks.

There's a privacy factor too, because many of these ads create cookies and track your browser usage/history. That is NOT okay.

It is a security issue as well NOT just an annoyance.

[Armstead]

36. Yeah, I work for a free newpaper, so I'm not unsympathetic to the value of ads

But this is like if the ads in the paper contained special ink that set your fingers on fire.

[NYC Liberal]

37. Or if all commercials were like what TBS tried a few years ago:

Imagine if tv shows kept pausing and playing commercials like that. That's the equivalent to many web ads.

[Armstead]

40. Well another pet peeve is seeing three minutes of programming and five minutes of ads on TV...

but that's for another day.

[Jim Beard]

71. Ad Choices is the worst offender on mine.

I had some other issues with my PC and took it to Supergeeks and ask them to stop the ad choices ads. Was told they couldn't stop them. I paid $160 for that. What a rip off.

[lumpy]

12. Armstead, you slobbered a bibfull

Much talent needed in website design, apparently. Frustrating. And the contributers are not getting their moneys worth.

[hootinholler]

16. Don't blame the programmers

They are building what the boss wants.

From a code whore doing this shit for 20+ years.

[Armstead]

18. If I were a carpenter, and a storeowner told me to install a door starting 5 feet from floor.

I think I'd at least suggest that this might not be the smartest thing to do

[we can do it]

68. And he would probably hire someone else to STFU and do what was asked.

[brooklynite]

19. I'd demand a refund from all those free websites you're visiting...

[Armstead]

22. I'm guessing you didn't read my OP all the way through either

[AngryOldDem]

24. I really hate the "surveys" that cover news stories.

And I don't trust them to not pass on some virus so I just close and try to find the story I want to read elsewhere. (I come across this mainly at work when I take breaks to see what's going on in the world. I don't want to run the risk of anything that could mess up my work computer.) I see this as a ploy to make me sign up for an online subscription. Ain't happening -- the "surveys" almost guarantee that I will not spend money on a site. (I don't mind the sites that offer x-number of free articles a month.)

You're right...I truly wonder if they are aware (or even care) about all the ill-will this BS creates.

[Enrique]

30. it sounds like you just tried going to Huffington Post

[Armstead]

32. They were pioners in this. I gave up on them long ago

[Person 2713]

35. Ha good one but there are even way worse out there unfortunately.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

39. I won't open links to Huffpost, raw story and a few others.

[Warpy]

31. There is adware out there that will do this every time

and some of it gets past ironclad antivirus software. Best thing is to go through your program list, find out what stuff you don't recognize is, and delete anything you find out to be adware. Just search the name to find out what it is before you shitcan it.

Malwarebytes specializes in adware, so download it and run it, also.

Ghostery is an excellent stand alone or Firefox add on that can stop websites from tracking you. You do have to be careful about blocking widgets, some of them allow you to watch videos or listen to audio content. It's easy to unblock them after the fact.

Some of this stuff is getting through because Adobe has been spoofed recently, updating your Flash player correctly but installing a lot of shit on your computer at the same time. That could be how you picked some of the garbage up. I've learned to go to their site to update instead of clicking on their handy dandy popup.

Good luck, you can get the garbage off your computer, it will just take some time to do it.

[Armstead]

33. Thanks. I have a brand new computer that's dog slow

Between the crap that the manufacuturer installed, and the crap I've picked up along the way....unhhhhhh.

[Warpy]

38. Firefox is great

You can set it to delete all history and cookies every time you close it, which is what I've done for ages. Drives Google crazy.

New computers shouldn't be slow unless you've cheaped out on RAM.

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. Also...Better Privacy from Mozilla shows you the hidden long lasting cookies

and you can delete them with one click.

[msongs]

43. get a program called noscript (all one word) from noscript.net it blocks lots of bad stuff or

allows things only if you give permissions before hand

[valerief]

45. Adblock and disable Flash on your browser. I don't miss what

I don't see. And those damn surveys? I X out the pop-up and click my Back button out of there. No site is worth that trouble.

[BlueStateLib]

46. Update your HOSTS file and block all of them

http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

# Use this file to prevent your computer from connecting to selected
# internet hosts. This is an easy and effective way to protect you from
# many types of spyware, reduces bandwidth use, blocks certain pop-up
# traps, prevents user tracking by way of "web bugs" embedded in spam,
# provides partial protection to IE from certain web-based exploits and
# blocks most advertising you would otherwise be subjected to on the
# internet.

[lpbk2713]

52. I've been using a hosts file like that for years.

Thanks for the update.

[Old Codger]

47. they also cheat

Some of the ads I have seen lately have the little X to close them in the corner but when you click on it it takes you to the website then upon closer examination you find the little "close ad" down in one corner on the bottom instead of normal placement... so they get a click through .... BUT my main problem Is that I do not have a mile wide pipeline here,actually a really slow teeny over subscribed dsl so all that hoopla they put on those sites just makes it almost impossible for me to get even the slightest idea of what it is all about since my browser will usually time out trying

[Quackers]

48. Just my opinion

But it sounds like you have malware on your computer.

[Armstead]

59. I may but this is usually confined to individual sites

Some still work like they are supposed to.

I also have Kapurski anti-shit prgram so it supposedly gets scanned and blocked.

[BarbaRosa]

49. I use Pale Moon on my PCs.

I had to remove of adblock -quit working- but Pale Moon recomended Adblock Latitude 3.0.2 which seems to do the job so far.

I like this setup.

[SeattleVet]

50. I use multiple ad blockers.

I usually use Safari and have Adblock Plus on that, and additional blockers on Chrome and Firefox. I've been using the Internet since way back in the ancient times when ads were not allowed (when it was still a government and university 'thing'). I got used to it without ads, and when they first started appearing I pretty well trained myself not to even 'see' them. If I was reading a page the ads were just visual clutter to be ignored. Several times people asked me about something on the screen, and I had to have them point out what they were talking about - if it was in an ad box it never registered with me.

When they became abusive I started blocking them. If I open a video and an ad starts (either with the 'you can skip this in xx seconds', or 'your content will begin in xx seconds' I usually close the window and not bother with the content I wanted to view. I'm not going to sit through 30 seconds or a minute of ads to view a 1-minute video. I am *very* resistant to most of the advertising being pushed at me.

I have never intentionally clicked on any Internet advertising link, and am not likely to start anytime soon. Same thing when I do a search with any of the search engines that allow 'pay for placement'... I will generally skip over the first page or two of search results and get to the ones that haven't manipulated the system to push their results to the top, unless it's a site that I know well.

(When I worked for a government office as a contractor I would tell all of the phone solicitors that made it through to my line that we NEVER made any purchasing decisions based on telephone cold calls, except to add the companies doing it to our 'do not use' list of vendors. If we were in the market for something we would contact them.)

[Armstead]

58. Yeah, a 60 second ad to see a 30 second clip

[navarth]

53. It's all about the money, Lebowski. nt

[FlatBaroque]

54. There are some sites so bad

that I cannot disxxern the ads rfom the content...or the content is 10% of the garbage ib the page. These clickbait sites at the end of Huffington Posts artcles are the worst I've encountered.

[Armstead]

57. There's one with the "Worst Plastic Surgery" that creeps me out every time I see it

[backscatter712]

76. Fucking Taboola.

Motherfucking Taboola's "Sponsored Content" is something that will get me scrambling to find something to filter it. I fucking hate Taboola.

[Nye Bevan]

55. Let me guess.... browser looks like this?

[Armstead]

56. Not quite that bad LOL

And often its like one huge photo or ad that blocks the screen and refuses to go away.

[Trekologer]

84. At one point I was doing phone support and on more than one occasion has a caller like this

Me: "Ok, go to the address bar and type..."
Caller: "You mean the search bar?"
Me: "No, the address bar."
Caller: "The Yahoo bar?"
Me: "No, address bar."
Caller: "Google bar?"
Me: "Address bar."
Caller: "Ask bar?"
Me: "Address bar."
Caller: "Alta Vista bar?"
Me: (They're still around???) "No, the address bar."
Caller: "..."
Me:

[uponit7771]

60. Pages these days are extremely heavy weight!!!

[moondust]

61. LOL

I thought it was just me.

Where does it end? Will there one day be 4 or 5 billion advertisers around the world making up new ways to grab and hold people's attention in hopes of becoming a household name and selling enough stuff to become billionaires? Billionaires!!!

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

62. It's become very common for a site to almost immediately pop-up a request that the visitor sign up

for the site's newsletter or updates. How on earth would I know if a site is one I'd want to have such a relationship with before I've even read the content I came to the site to read? I always just close the page and look elsewhere.

[we can do it]

63. Programmers are not morons. They only do what they are asked to do.

And change it 400 times when the designer changes it, the corporation or whatever management changes it....whoever decides to add banner ads because they might make 5 cents. It is not the programmer. You obviously have no clue on how advertising works.

[Armstead]

70. I work in media...Perhaps I made too broad a generalization but...

I know all of the hoops and turf battles that things have to go though before they are placed before the public.

But in my own little humble sliver of the universe, we recognize that -- even with the profit motive -- usability and accessibility is the first consideration.

My very small publication had to deal with that dilemma of how to go online without undercutting the base of print adverting. The solution was blissfully simple. We put a PDF file of the full exact newspaper online for download. We tell visitors to click the link, wait 30 seconds to a minute while it downloads, and they have a duplicate of the paper free, with no pop-ups. All editorial content and ads intact. And more eyballs for the ads.

That may not be the solution for every site, but there are a lot of ways to get advertising before eyeballs without pushing away the reader/visitor.

[backscatter712]

74. In the business, that's called the Door-Slam antipattern.

It happens on web sites, and it also happens on mobile sites, which throw a popup in your face telling you to download their stupid app.

The effect on users is like trying to walk into a store, and having the front door slammed in their face.

It's obnoxious, it pisses off users, it causes a lot of users to stop what they were going to do and go elsewhere. Web site owners need to knock that shit off.

[Monk06]

81. Pop up or layered subscription requests. So called slide shows eg Ten Stars Who Live a Simple Life,

are bait and switch ad sites that fake the slide show format to load a new page with each image.

Each new page is loaded with a new set of dynamic banner and video ads that are programmed to play on load. The further you get in the more memory and bandwidth is used until your computer freezes.

I've had to unplug the power on my machine and remove the battery in some cases to exit a web site because my browser is jammed. IE, FIrefox, Chrome doesn't seem to make any difference.

The only choice for me is to disable all Microsoft services and use CCleaner two or three times a day and optimize my power scheme to Entertainment.

Forget optimizing for power saving. The web capitalists have made that option a joke.

[herding cats]

78. I keep hearing this more and more from people.

My response is always the same, avoid those sites. If they're spamming you with ads to the point that they're ruining the content, leave. Please, just don't tolerate it.

We've forgotten how to be good consumers in pretty much every area of our consumption. Crappy products with 30 day return policies/warranties that fall apart in 4 months are all too common, yet we still patronize the manufacture and/or the store we purchased it from have became the norm. The result was more crappy products. Still purchasing that item which has been downturned multiple times into a fraction of the size of what you were purchasing a few years ago, but costs the same if not more? You're part of the problem. Stop buying it! Consumers hold a portion of the blame there since we simply refuse to demand better as a group.

The same goes for these websites which insist on taking us hostage when we attempt to view their content. Just block them, or if you're unable to do that then close the tab and never look back. We set the standard for the most part. If we refuse to be used then we won't be used. The hard part is getting enough people on board, which is the really infuriating part. In such a connected age you'd think we'd be able to organize a movement. Sadly, that's not been the case. Too many consumers just consider it the norm now and put up with the lack of quality in every area of our consumption!

I don't mind reasonable advertising. It has a place in the world and is expected. The newest standard I cannot abide though. If you're sucking up my bandwidth, which I'm paying for, and wasting my time, which isn't yours to waste, then you've stepped over a line in my eyes. Also, on a personal level, I don't patronize those sites because I worry about what other unethical things they may be up doing.

[hunter]

79. I never see that shit.

Most sites probably read me as some sort of disabled person, using a disabled person's browser, and maybe they are right.

I don't ever install Adobe, Apple, or Microsoft "products" on my computers, no Flash, no nothing. I block any objects that move or makes sound or "pop up" without my explicit permission. I don't allow cookies and all that other crap to live on my computer more than a day. Scripts and HTML5 are severely limited in what they can do.

I don't even have to use ad-block or other similar tools because the worst an ad can do is throw some text at me. I fully allow non-animated ads on certain mostly technical sites. Google ads still seem to appreciate the limitations I impose upon them, but other advertisers and web sites have hissy fits about it, with timeouts and other crap like white-on-white text and other stupid tricks, generally those sites not worth reading in the first place.

Spoof Huffington Post as a dillo or elinks browser, cough, cough... Sometimes they don't allow you to see the content until you see the ads.

DU breaks on jury duty with my normal browser settings, and leaves me missing a few buttons, but I'm paid up as a subscriber so I allow the DU javascript to run freely, and it's all good.

I've solved the television problem by abandoning television. Our television is a movie player. That's all it does. The occasional thrift store or RedBox DVD may have movie trailers up front, but it's rare they are entirely uninteresting or our ability to skip past them is blocked. With old VHS tapes it's just a matter of hitting Fast Forward.

My wife gave our old CRT television to her brother and brought home a slightly larger flat screen LCD one day. Whatever software it has in it's 1080P microprocessor "brain" makes one dollar VHS tapes and two dollar DVDs from the thrift store look better than they ever did in the Analog NTSC age.

[sorefeet]

82. I just downloaded adblock

it sped my computer up considerably. It has been really slow and screwed up

[DCBob]

83. Its not the programmers.. its the owners/ marketers.

They need the click bucks.