If you think popup blockers are bad (for advertisers) check out Norton Internet Security 2004!
The default setting (which I assume most people probably use ) has the “ad blocker” feature turned on, which means that not only does it block your pop-ups, it also blocks EVERY BANNER AD on your site.
I discovered this myself shortly after I installed NIS 2004 last year and started surfing around and noticed that our banner ads were missing on several sites. I finally looked at my Norton Internet Security settings and discovered that the “Ad Blocker” option was checked “on” by default. After I un-checked it to turn the Ad Blocker option “off”, all the banners were back when I visited the sites. However, unfortunately for us, most people won’t go to that trouble because they like not being bothered by banner ads.
Just imagine how many potential players you are missing if you rely solely on banner ads to pull them in. I think the best way to get players these days is text links with PERSONAL recommendations. We spend a lot of time and money to make fancy banner graphics, but a large percentage of Web surfers never see them these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should NOT use banners or pop-ups on your sites, but just be aware that a significant portion of your site visitors may never see them.
BTW, I have dropped Norton Internet Security in favor of an anti-virus program that is very highly rated and slows my computer down much less than Norton ever did. It’s called “PC-cillin” by Trend Micro. I highly recommend it if any of you are sick of Norton bogging down your PC. It has also caught a few viruses that Norton missed.