The Pop-up Must Die (Energy Savings Trust Banners)

Member Name: ihatebroccoli

Product:	Energy Savings Trust Banners
Date:	17/03/01 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pop-up is actually advertising a good site

Disadvantages: The pop-up!

(aka) "Save energy – reduce pop-ups by 100%!"

I might have had a problem with some of the Urbia banners at the time (see my review), but this pop-up takes the biscuit. Here I am again pleading for you at dooyoo to stop this misery. There is advertising, and there are banners, and that is one thing, but when that little antagonistic pop-up window appears on *every* single page I open in dooyoo, well let me say, it is almost reason enough for me staying away from the site as a whole, and that I doo not want.

I’m not even criticising the pop-up topic itself, I mean “Click here to save energy” is a great incentive to go ahead and click it. I have to admit I did access the site (but from the banner as opposed to the pop-up), and www.saveenergy.co.uk is a very well laid out site, with some very useful hints and tips. I would certainly recommend taking a look. It contains information on renewable energy, heating, glazing, insulation and appliances, and offers advice on how to save money and contribute towards helping the environment.

“Are heating bills making you sweat?” – no, but these pop-ups are! As I look now, I have five of the little gems minimised on my taskbar, piling up pointlessly – if this is supposed to make me want to follow up the advert, then it is definitely not the right way to go about it! Advertisers are supposed to try and “attract” potential interest aren’t they, as opposed to putting off customers before they even become customers! It is a known fact that the majority of pop-ups are not even seen by site users anyway, as most people just see them as annoying little windows and close them before they have even fully loaded.

As I am typing this opinion into Word, I have simultaneously opened another dooyoo window in the background, and the pop-up has interrupted my typing by appearing over the Word document – thus leaving me with th
e usual situation of typing into nothing before I actually look up and see that my cursor is not actually in the Word document at all. Just an added whinge there ;-)

And it’s not only the pop-up which is advertising this website either, there is also a banner strip down the right hand side of every main page in dooyoo promoting the exact same site. Is the pop-up then really necessary?? I think I am right in saying that the majority of dooyooers find it intrusive, and perhaps the fact that a website exists called “Pop-ups Must Die” (and no it’s not my site!) says it all. Also, pop-ups are featured at Number Ten in the “Top Ten New Mistakes of Web Design” on www.zdnet.com (amongst others) so I’m guessing it’s not a good idea all round.

I understand that dooyoo has to fund our opinion writing and exist somehow, and it is not this which I am criticising, however, I *am* criticising the method of the advertising as I think it is producing negative effects for dooyoo and its users. I have been writing on this site on and off since last July, and as a result of these pop-ups alone I am beginning to find looking for helpful reviews unbearable. I have no problem with the majority of banners, as I find them in the main, colourful and linking to useful companies. It is simply beginning to irritate me a little too much when I find my entire taskbar is loaded with “COI Internet Explorer” minimised windows, after only a couple of clicks.

Please oh please, here I am pleading again in this category, remove these pop-ups, or my dooyoo addiction will have finally found a cure. Hey, maybe this is helpful after all!

Summary: