MSNBC notes,
Call it spyware, or adware, or just plain annoying — but it’s everywhere. Programs designed to deliver pop-up advertising have multiplied like viruses in recent months and consumers should get used to it: Companies behind the pop-ups are signing up brand-name advertisers, winning court battles and rolling in cash.
AT A MINIMUM, pop-ups–even legitimate ones from the site a consumer is visiting, such as a coupon offer as a shopper clicks away–are usually an unwanted interruption of Internet surfing. Throw in a few “adware” programs that anonymously follow consumers online in order to offer them context-sensitive ads and performance can slow to a crawl. And then there’s “spyware”: programs that secretly watch every move consumers make and every word they type–a clear invasion of privacy.
As with spam, technology firms and legislators are hard at work trying to beat back pop-up ads. But slowing down pop-ups may ultimately prove a more daunting problem than fighting spam. Spammers now often struggle to make profits, and sometimes face stiff government fines. But pop-up networks have attracted brand-name advertisers like Dell, eBay, Expedia, and Orbitz. Adware firms have won two victories in court. And most important, at least for now, they are making money.
The good thing about this is that it appears, for the time being, we have a business model that works. Most of us are unwilling to pay for Internet content, having grown accustomed to the idea that everything on the ‘net should be “free.” For the life of me, I still can’t figure out who it is that clicks on these ads and buys the spy cameras and other crap hawked therein, but apparently enough people are to make pop-ups profitable.
