Pop-up
Pop-up Ads · experience 01 of 23
It is an ad that appears over the page after it starts opening and covers the text. It can cover a piece of the screen or the whole screen, with or without a countdown.
Understand it in 1 minute
A pop-up is a type of interstitial ad that does exactly what the name says: it jumps onto the screen and covers the main content of the page. It appears after the page content starts loading. In other words, the person is already watching the text arrive and, suddenly, an ad box shows up on top. The Coalition for Better Ads says the pop-up is among the most cited annoyances for people who visit a site.
Size makes no difference. According to the Coalition, the pop-up can take up just part of the screen or the whole screen. The tests included two types: the pop-up with a countdown and the pop-up without a countdown. So, with a clock or without one, if the ad jumps onto the screen and covers the main content, it is the case described here. It is like reading a newspaper and someone putting an advertising flyer right on top of the page you are reading.
Two things help to understand the limit of the rule. The first is what the Coalition calls an ad: promotional content shown because of a paid deal with a third party. The second is that the Coalition set aside some cases that, for now, are not covered by the pop-up rule. These are exit pop-ups, which appear after the person has stopped interacting with the content: when they start to leave the page (without the ad getting in the way of leaving), when they stay idle for more than 30 seconds on a page without video, when they reach the end of the first article, or when they deliberately go to another tab and come back. Also left out, for now, is an ad inside an image, a video or a game that takes up 30% or less of that image or content.
Allowed
- An ad between paragraphs that stays in its place and does not jump over the text.
- A cookie notice or sign-up box from the site itself: by the Coalition's definition, this is not an ad, because it is not promotional content paid for by a third party.
- An exit pop-up that appears when the person starts to leave the page, without getting in the way of leaving (a case the Coalition left outside the rule for now).
- A pop-up that appears after more than 30 seconds without the person interacting, on a page without video (also outside the rule for now).
- A pop-up that appears when the person reaches the end of the first article on the page (also outside the rule for now).
- An ad inside an image, a video or a game that takes up 30% or less of that image or content (also outside the rule for now).
Not allowed
- An ad box that jumps onto the screen and covers all of it right after the text starts loading.
- A smaller ad box that covers only part of the main text.
- An ad pop-up with a countdown over the content.
- An ad pop-up with no countdown that jumps onto the screen and covers the main content.
- An ad pop-up that appears when the person scrolls to the middle of the text and covers the content.
In practice
Imagine a recipe blog. The person opens the page, the recipe starts to appear and, right after, an ad box jumps up and covers the ingredients. This is exactly the pop-up the Coalition describes: it appears after the content starts loading and covers the main content. If the same ad sat between two steps of the recipe, in its place, without jumping over the text, it would not be a pop-up.
Why it's annoying
Pulls people away from what they came to do: they have to find the close button before reading.
How to fix
- Turn off pop-ups that open on their own on load or on scroll.
- Replace it with an interstitial between pages with a close button.
- If you need a notice (cookies, newsletter), use a small banner that doesn't cover the text.
In ConsentMode
Detects layers that open on their own and measures time and area covered, with a screenshot.
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