The internet may be a place where you can find information on everything from Keswick Dental's hours of operation to how many people live in the Australian city of Adelaide, but that doesn't mean that people can't make money off the internet. They can and do without charging the user anything by incorporating advertising into their websites. There are many types of internet ads - rollovers, skyscrapers, banners, videos, purchases search engine returns - but most people would agree that the pop up is the most annoying variety.

Pretty much everyone who has ever surfed the internet has been exposed to pop up ads. They work by opening a second window in front of the one where you're reading about a class action suit in Canada and disgorge their messages right into your face. They're triggered by certain actions, such as arriving at a webpage, clicking on a link or a photo, or typing a search key into a box. Before you can move on, you must close the new window, which forces you to look at it and take in the ad it contains.

While one pop up ad is annoying, some website have dozens and dozens of pop ups hiding all over the place, some which will even come up if you try to close the original pop up window, leaving you with the feeling you're being swept up in a tornado of advertising or being attacked by an army of ads. That's when pop ups become really offensive and some people will boycott entirely the wastewater treatment chemicals distributors that use these methods.

Because of this, pop up ads have fallen out of favor with websites that care about their customers. Instead of using a pop up to display an ETF list, instead the ad will be contained in a skyscraper next to the content. Another common replacement for pop-ups are pop-unders, which open a new window behind your current one so that often you don't notice it's there until you finish your task and close your primary window, meaning they don't interrupt you like pop ups do.

If you own a business and you're considering buying some internet advertising, think long and hard before you buy pop up ads, as it could backfire and make people not want to buy you weld-seal joint straps. Similarly, if you are a website owner you could lose readers if you employ pop ups as a means of monetizing your site.