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It seems like most web sites are displaying ads on their web pages these days. Some ads are not too noticeable while others are so annoying that they push visitors away and possibly make them leave the site. Pushing away visitors or potential customers is never a webmaster's goal so it's best to place ads in such a way as to avoid these kinds of problems.

Pop-up and Pop-under Ads

Some of the most annoying ads come in the form of a pop-up ad. This type of ad will open up a new browser window to display itself, and the visitor will need to close it before they can continue. Pop-Under ads are similar to the pop-up, but this type of ad opens up behind the current browser window so the user will only see it when they close their browser. The Pop-Under can be really confusing to your visitors as they thought they left the internet only to realize that there is still another window open, and this one is trying to sell them something.

Not only are pop-ups and pop-unders annoying, pop-up blockers are freely available in most web browsers. When is the last time you read a pop-up or pop-under ad? When one squeaks by my pop-up blocker I immediately close it without a second thought.

Interstitials

Interstitials are all over the internet, mostly on larger websites. They can bring in a lot of revenue and a lot of annoyance. Here is how they work. When you come to a website you will first be shown a webpage with an ad of some sort ' a full page ad. To get past this page there is usually a button to click that says something like 'No Thanks'. So your visitor is looking for information and instead they get this annoying ad that they have to figure out how to close. How annoying is that?

If you do decide to use interstitials anyway, make sure to use JavaScript to make the window disappear after a several seconds so that the visitor doesn't have to click through. That may make the ad a little less annoying. Also, do not use tracking cookies as this can make the ad appear many times if the user has cookies disabled.

Takeovers and Floating Ads

Now that mostly everyone has a pop-up blocker installed on their computer, it is time for the pop-ups to evolve into Floating ads and Takeovers. These ads appear over the content on the top of the page. Sometimes there will be a close button right away and other time it will appear after a few seconds. Still other times the close button never appears which is really annoying. Also if the close button is not clicked exactly in the correct spot they may be taken to the advertisers' site. Many visitors don't return to sites that use these types of ads. So by using them, you may be pushing your customers away.

System Error Ads

One more thing to avoid is the system error and spyware infection ads. These ads will confuse many visitors and make them go away. These ads pop-up in your face with a message like 'your computer is infected with spyware ' click here for a free scan'. These ads don't know anything about the user's computer; they are just trying to trick them into purchasing an inferior product.

As webmasters we all want to monetize our sites to their fullest potential. However, some ads do more damage to your sites image than anything else. Furthermore, even though some of these tactics may work for the short term, I really doubt that they are here to last as more and more internet users become aware of the latest marketing ploys.