(Too) Much Ado About Pop-Ups? David Hallerman, reporting for eMarketer, notes that some web advertising creates problems for both publishers and advertisers, and most visible among
these formats are pop-up ads
In July 2002, the website iVillage said it would cut pop-up ads from its network by the end of the third quarter in reaction to complaints from its predominantly
female audience. A survey done for iVillage by Vividence discovered that 92.5% of the website’s audience finds pop-up advertising to be the web’s most frustrating feature. In August 2002,
EarthLink began to provide its customers with free software to prevent pop-up ads from appearing. Then, in October 2002, America Online announced it will no longer sell more pop-up ads to
outside companies. However, the world’s largest ISP will still allow house-ad pop-ups to appear. Surveys such as one by Valentine Radford indicate that 74% of US consumers find pop-ups far
more annoying than any other type of ad. Even other interactive ads, such as banners and e-mail, barely hit the annoyance radar screen.
Most Annoying Advertising, 2002 (% of respondents)
Pop-Up ads 74% Banner ads 9% Television ads 6% EMail 5% Direct mail ads 3% Radio 2% Billboards 1% Magazine 1% Newspaper
0%
Source: Valentine Radford, August 2002 Will Tifft, senior vice president and general manager, 24/7 Real Media says, "People see pop-ups the way they see blow-in cards in magazines.
Everyone says they hate them, but they still perform at three to four times the rate of a standard ad."
For all the attention they get though, pop-up ads are a small part of the online marketing
spectrum. According to a recent study from Nielsen//NetRatings, only 9.2% of all companies advertising online use pop-ups. Of the more than 11.3 billion ad impressions during the January to July 2002
period for both pop-ups and its polar sibling, the pop-under, the bulk came from five industries. The impression total adds up to only 2% of the online advertising market. And that thin slice came
from a small segment of advertisers, with 63 companies launching 80% of all pop-ups; 2,145 advertisers split the remaining 20%.
Top US Industries Using Pop-Up Ads (Jan-Jul Impressions in
millions)
| Financial Services | 1,785 |
| Hardware and Electronics
| 1,581 |
| Web Media | 1,543 |
| Travel | 1,387 |
| Entertainment | 1,273 |
| Retail Goods and Services | 913 |
| Consumer Goods | 666 |
| Software
| 666 |
| Telecommunications | 634 |
| B2B | 439 |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Ad
Relevance, August 2002 You can find out more here at eMarketer.