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Ad Report Card Follow-Up: Anti-Pop

By Rob WalkerPosted Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001, at 10:30 PM ET

A few months back I wrote about so-called pop-under ads—online ads that appear in windows that materialize behind your browser as you surf. As a somewhat related follow-up, I have to mention an amusing new variation on the pop-up phenomenon.

Reader Jacob S. writes that on a visit to a site called www.experts-exchange.com, he was confronted with an interesting pop-up. I went to the site and had the same experience: A small window labeled "Pop-Off!" appears, and the text reads, "Stop Annoying Ads Dead," and then, "Click Here To Find Out How!" The service on offer? "Pop-Off!"—a "unique software utility that will rid your computer of those annoying pop-up windows. ... Imagine never again having to waste your time with those aggravating windows that keep popping up over and over again."

Yes, imagine that. So does the software work? I have to admit, I don't have the heart to try it. But I have a certain perverse admiration for a product devoted to obliterating its own marketing campaign.

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Rob Walker writes the Ad Report Card for Slate.
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