What's up with the pop-ups
Posted by Phil Cauthon
February 3, 2009 at 7:41 a.m.
Dear reader and lawrence.comrade,
You might have noticed that a pop-up advertisement appears now when you first come to lawrence.com (or ljworld.com and kusports.com). Yes, that is a first. Like most businesses, we find ourselves in particularly challenging times, and this is one revenue opportunity which allows us to keep on keepin' on, and keep our sites free. However, some readers—especially those using Safari, and some users of IE6—are being affected in an unintened way. The code supplied by our advertising contractor is designed to distribute ONE pop-under per 24-hour period. Some browser configurations have a problem handling this limit, and we are working with the contractor to fix this bug. In the meantime, if you're able to use another brower—such as Firefox—that is our best suggestion.We are working quickly to solve this problem and sincerely regret the inconvenience it has caused some of you. —homies
Comments
nathan 14 years, 3 months ago
I fixed the problem on my Safari browser by going to Preferences > Security > Show Cookies and searching for"zedo." I deleted all the "zedo" related cookies and things are fine now.
alm77 14 years, 3 months ago
Okay, Nathan, I did that, but how did they get there in the first place and will they return?
PatrickJoseph 14 years, 3 months ago
Thanks Nathan.
MyName 14 years, 3 months ago
Wow, I actually feel better about the decision now that I realize that having a new ad show up every time I open a new article means that it is not in fact working as intended.
nathan 14 years, 3 months ago
@alm77 Not sure why that fixed it. Cookies are set for almost every big site you visit and it's possible those were set incorrectly, I dunno. I personally only accept cookies from sites I visit and disallow third party cookies. Helps mitigate spam and viruses.
lori 14 years, 3 months ago
Unfortunately that did not help me; I'm still getting a new popunder every time I click on anything in the ljworld/lawrence.com site. It sucks and it's stupid--how much revenue do those things actually generate? I'd rather pay a subscription fee to read the paper online than deal with this crap on my computer.
lazz 14 years, 3 months ago
at least the advertising is via on-screen pop-ups and not ass tattoos ...
DOTDOT 14 years, 3 months ago
I heard that on-screen pop up ass tattoos will be built in to Windows 7. The DRM says that Redmond will get a cut every time you take a crap. A little invasive, I know, but one can't afford to be offended by revenue opportunities these days. Anyway, don't you think this answer to the ipod whoopee cushion is a little like overkill?
lori 14 years, 3 months ago
If it were an ass tattoo, at least I wouldn't have to look at it all the time. Well, I take that back. I actually see quite a bit of ass in my line of work. I would be just as annoyed to see an advertisement for Netflix or American Express on some 80 year old pt's bum as I am to see it on my computer after I've read the paper. Pop up/under ads are annoying under any circumstances, no matter the medium.
alm77 14 years, 3 months ago
lori, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. If it were a local company, once a day (as homies have explained is, in fact, the intention) then I'm okay with that. We do get our l.com jollies for free, after all. Yeah, the bazillion pop ups suck, but just be patient while they get it worked out. It's only been a few days and they are working on it. And how'd you get Netflix and American Express anyway? Mine have all been Publisher's Clearinghouse and auto insurance.
lori 14 years, 3 months ago
Why not offer "enhanced subscriptions" where, if we pay a monthly subscription fee, we can get ljworld and lawrence dot com without internet ads? I don't mind local ads, but the embedded ads that come up at the end of every story and the popunders drive me crazy. I'll pay to not see them.
alm77 14 years, 3 months ago
Enhanced subscriptions? No way! l.com has a bad enough reputation as being elitist. Enhanced subscriptions reminds me of Bret Mossman's terrible idea of VIP tickets at Wakarusa. There was this huge area roped off (they got to stand by the stage!!) and like five rich people stood there, embarrassed while we all laughed (but didn't point!). So, you and two people you probably don't even like are going to pay for access to comment on......what? secret stories? I don't know of any pay-to-read websites that actually work. Well, except the obvious and even lawrence.com showed some ass for free last week. ;)Suck up the ONE pop up a day and just be glad you're not spending your money.
alm77 14 years, 3 months ago
Um, let me just clarify, that came out wrong. About the elitism, I actually kind of like it: keeps out the riff-raff. But my point still stands, I think bestowing status on people who are willing to pay for it is silly.
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