Slashdot Mirror


WhenU.com Enjoined From Competing Pop-Ups

Frisky070802 writes "The NY Times reports that a preliminary injunction has been issued against WhenU.com, a company that distributes software that performs certain tasks for users but also intercepts their website visits so that, for instance, a visitor to Expedia would see a pop-up ad for Orbitz. Now if only we could get rid of all the rest of the pop-up ads."

7 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. When U... by graveyardduckx · · Score: 3, Funny

    When U dot com, U get mozilla and block pop ups.

  2. WhenU wish upon a star... by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Star light
    star bright
    first star I see tonight
    I wish I may
    I wish I might
    see all spammers and pop-up software writers be sent directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  3. Enjoined? by -tji · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to Webster, "Enjoined" is how you say forbidden / prohibited when you want to sound like a lawyer.

  4. Pop Ups? by LamerX · · Score: 2, Funny

    What exactly are these pop up things you are talking about? I have never seen a pop up before! Would someone please explain what a pop up is please? And what is this Internet Explorer program? Do people really use this program? I'm totally amazed! I'll have to try it out to see exactly what these "pop up" things are...

  5. Another good tool destroyed... by tcdk · · Score: 4, Funny

    One of the things that annoy me the most about pop-up ads, is that they have destroyed an otherwise fine tool. I'll a couple of home-pages and sometimes it would be really nice to be able to do a pop-up. Like for telling people that, if they have to keep on getting the news letter they will have to blah blah, blah... or warning them that there's only two days left if they want to join the competition.

    But people are so negative about pop-ups that if they aren't using a blocker (I'm using Firebird), they certainly aren't reading what's in the pop-up before they close it.

    Yes, most pop-op blockers have a white-list function, but most users are totally clueless on how to use it and will not white list anything. Even if you give them a clue, they will revert to cluelessness in a few minutes. I'm not just guessing here. I installed Mozilla on every workstation here (15 WS's), changed the default browser to mozilla and demoed it, include the white-list function (our intranet uses pop-ups). So they all had the intranet white-listed "out of the box" and they all know that if there's a small blue question mark is means that there's a pop-up that they might be missing. How often do you think that they come to the me, complaining about home pages that doesn't work "in that stupid mozilla browser..." ?

    The only solution that I can see is a global/central white list function. If it was possible to register my site as a "good practice pop-up site" at the various pop-up blocker suppliers, that would could us the pop-up back as a useful tool.

    I imagine the rules for getting on the white list should be something like this:

    1. Only display a pop-up once to each visitor. Use a cookie or something to make sure that you don't do it again.
    2. No ads in the pop-up. The pop-up must be related to the site visited.
    3. Make it clear if clicking a link will result in a pop-up (we need a common icon/symbol for this).
    4. For the extra strict: Only pop-up to registered users who have signed up for the pop-ups. Like phpBB2's "news personal mail" pop-up box.

    I'm unsure if it could be automated, either by analyzing the site with a robot, or through analyzing the manual white-listing done by the users of your blocker software. Otherwise it would have to be a manual process... (which means that it probably would become a paid for extra service).

    --
    TC - My Photos..
  6. Guilt trip.. by graveyardduckx · · Score: 2, Funny

    When trying to raise money to help pay for my site, I tried using pop-up ads... but quickly realized that I felt less guilty from purse-snatching from little old ladies.

  7. Re:Shamless google pop-up blocker plug by Feztaa · · Score: 2, Funny

    So while pop-ups are a curse for your average folk, we geeks can make a little use out of the situation.

    "I don't want Mozilla, I want the internet!"

    *sigh*

    I just installed mozilla anyway and made the Internet Explorer and Outlook Express icons launch moz instead.