Popups are new browser windows that can be used for advertising or assistance. They can be irritating and even harmful, but can also be useful for providing help on websites. Pop-up blockers are commonly used to prevent unwanted pop-ups.
A popup is a new browser window that is opened from a website. The most classic use of popups is in Internet advertising, where popups are used to attract the attention of potential customers. Some websites also use pop-ups as part of their support and help sections, allowing users to click a “help” button for assistance, rather than taking the user away from the page they are browsing. Many web users consider pop-up advertisements as a major consequence of their existence, as these ads can be extremely irritating.
It’s hard to determine whether advertising or more legitimate uses of pop-up ads came first. In the case of advertising, pop-ups are usually bright and garish, sometimes with flashing colors, and a site can open up a cascade of pop-up ads when a user enters it. Many companies also design pop-ups with misleading buttons, tricking users into clicking the wrong button when trying to close the ad, which can trigger more pop-ups or start a script that performs an operation on the user’s computer.
Certain types of websites are notorious for creating a deluge of popups for unwary users. Sites that provide downloads of dubious material often have popups, and popups are also very common on pornographic websites. In some cases, these pop-ups also include scripts that can harm a user’s computer and these sites should be navigated to carefully, if at all.
In the sense of assistance and help for the website, popups can be very useful. For example, when someone fills out a complex form, the form might have buttons that can be pressed for assistance. When these buttons are pressed, a popup is displayed to provide assistance, so the user can stay on the page instead of navigating back and forth. Popups can also contain tools like calculators that can be used to fill out the form.
Popups tend to work with Javascript, and many web browsers have developed popup blockers that detect and stop Javascript commands before they can open a popup. Some advertisers have tried using other scripts to get around this, resulting in an explosion of software that blocks pop-ups and other advertisements in a variety of creative ways. Other Internet users can manually block scripts in their browsers to avoid popups.
A basic browser usually comes with a pop-up blocker option that will automatically stop pop-ups, sometimes with a message at the top of the page to alert you. This prompt provides an option to allow pop-ups from specific websites, so users can allow help windows and other useful pop-ups to open.
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