Few on-line advertisers utilize pop-ups, despite appearances

Despite the seemingly constant encounters of pop-up and pop-under ads, only 9.2 percent of all on-line advertisers use them, according to the latest report from Nielsen/NetRatings. The report said that for the first seven months of the year, advertisers launched more than 11.3 billion pop-ups or pop-unders, or ads that spawn a new browser in front of or behind an active browser without user input. While the number appears huge, that number represents just 2 percent of the on-line ad market, according to Nielsen. Also, according the report, during the first half of the year, 84 percent of all pop-up ads used a direct marketing tactic, as opposed to branding. More than 58 percent of the ad units attempted to drive traffic to the advertiser’s site, while 26 percent offered incentives aimed at increasing sales. SNEWS® View: For the record, we HATE pop-ups, pop-unders, or pop anything and from an informal survey of friends and associates, we aren’t alone. In fact, we go out of our way to quickly click and close or otherwise delete any pop-up that attempts to pop into view.