“MacDailyNews (MDN) has been expunged from this pundit’s bookmarks. Their use of pop-under advertising has simply become too annoying,” ron carlson writes for Insanely Great Mac. “As the site plainly admitted, a cookie generated by the site limits the number of pop-under ads to one every 24 hours. There are days when I’ve seen more, but one is the general rule. However, a couple dozen Mac sites offer nearly identical content and manage to put bread on the table without resorting to such unwashed advertising tactics. So, why suffer even a single moment’s annoyance?”
carlson writes, “Perhaps if enough of us decide that pop-unders aren’t acceptable, period, MDN will change its tune. Until then here’s one reader that’s taking his ad impressions and walking… What’s your take?”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: MDN will change our tune when we can land an advertiser or advertisers that will commit to making up for the loss of the pop-under revenue. The alternative is a site is updated much less frequently without a single pop-under per day. If a single pop-under bothers you enough to no longer visit MDN, well, we hope to welcome you home when we’ve landed that replacement revenue. Or maybe Apple will get Safari working again… Anyway, the full, sordid “pop-under story” is explained here and we also provide a link for opting-out of pop-unders.
Please ask yourself honestly, of the “a couple dozen Mac sites that offer nearly identical content” out there, how many would link to an article that reams them (thanks, ron) and also provide an advertising opt-out option to its readers?
We’ve been upfront about this throughout. We’ve always had pop-unders. Safari users got used to not having them and a few people had a minor stroke when Safari’s pop-under blocker was coded around. Welcome to Capitalism. MDN stopped pop-unders immediately at this time – based on principle – while we investigated. When we discovered a way to let those who didn’t want pop-under ads opt-out, we provided the link and turned those ads back on. Without advertisers, MDN cannot run – this is an ad-supported site. Admittedly, we’re not the greatest ad salespeople, but we’re trying our best (lately) and things are slowly getting better.
We thank our loyal readers for their support. We really appreciate it!
Advertisers who are interested in placing an ad campaign with MDN, please email and see our Advertising Information page here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Safari’s and Firefox’s Pop-Up Blockers broken? [UPDATE] – February 20, 2005
As a result of the pop-under bru-haha, I followed the links and installed PithHelmet. Now most ads at news sites are blocked, as well as pop-unders.
Net gain for me.
No matter how much I dislike pop ups, pop unders, pop tarts, and everything pop, MDN’s explanation allows me to live with their pop unders for now.
I’d miss MDN more than the freaking adverts.
Not only MDN adds cheap comments to some articles it chooses to publish; they (MDN bloggers) also bash anyone without thinking twice. Their pop up ads makes their site look like a porn discussion forum with angry participant insulting anyone making a constructive comment or thinking different.
All of it is done one linux servers for a site that’s supposed to praise Apple product.
Peace out Punks
Flash is launching these pop-unders. I removed ‘Flash Player.plugin’ and ‘flashplayer.xpt’ from /Library/Internet Plug-ins and now I’m pop-under free in Safari. I was sick of Flash slowing my web page loading times anyway.
If you don’t want to get rid of Flash altogether, I also recommend PithHelmet.
It would take more than a single pop-under to make me remove a informative, interesting and fun site from my list of usuals, I actually find the NYTimes ads you have to skip to get to the article FAR more annoying. Thses people are so whiney, maybe they need their diapers changed.
How is one pop-under a day annoying, unless you are viewing with a WinTel machine which has no limitation?
Boeing 777:
And all that is bad because…????
Only MDN would link to an article severely criticizing them and that’s why I take my one pop-under a day & close them with one mouse click. Pop-under ad opponents need to get a more worthwhile cause in life. Thanks, MDN – keep up the “insanely-great” work!
i agree with buffy; the nytimes interstetial ads are much more annoying.
I don’t mind the pop unders except for one NOISE making one that popped under a couple of times. It almost had me walking from this great site!
What are advertisers getting with pop-unders? It only makes people angry to have these ads foisted on them, not exactly what the advertisers want.
This is the only one of many sites I visit that has pop-unders. All those other sites get by without that revenue, maybe MacDailyNews should weigh their user’s annoyance levels against the profit.
Magic word “poor” for poor customer care.
MDN-Keep up the good work. You have many more faithful readers (than pop-under whiners) who come to MDN for content. Beside, I never see the pop-under because when I’m finished my reading I Quit Safari. No big deal!
“How is one pop-under a day annoying, unless you are viewing with a WinTel machine which has no limitation?”
MacBill, it’s annoying to those to hate the fact that their choice to block popup ads is being subverted using the “tactics of a hacker”. Also, I never turn my Macs off and on my home machine, Safari is always running, sometimes for days. When I eventually close the Safari window, sometimes there are 3 or 4 ad windows waiting to be closed underneath the main window. Also, I have a 23″ widescreen display, and my Safari window is usually less than half as wide as the screen. Depending on where I position it (i move around the screen depending on what I’m doing), the pop-under ads don’t appear UNDER the Safari window, but off to the left of it, covering up my Mail or other application windows, which kinda distracts me. Now THAT’s annoying.
You know MDN, there are lots of ways to make money by lowering your standards. I’d rather see porn or gambling ads on the main page (which probably pay better than some of these other ads) than have pop-unders, and user’s shouldn’t have to actively search out a solution to opting out of the pop-ups. If you really care about being “forthcoming”, then why not put a link in plain site on all pages that clearly says “Click here to opt-out of pop-under advertisements.”
You know what? I’m tired of complaining, I’m going to take MDN’s advice and stop visiting this site, there isn’t anything here that I can’t find at MacNN, MacOSRumors, TMO, IGM, eWeek, MacMinute, MacCentral, SpyMac, MacSlash, MacWorld, The Register, Think Secret and AppleInsider anyways, since MDN doesn’t actually do any of their own journalism.
One question to MDN: How are you going to let your lost readers know you have finally found that golden advertiser and have stopped the pop-under ads? Many of those readers will be lost for good.
Peace out.
—
Magic word: move. “It’s time to move on people.”
Hey I’m really missing out here. I have used MDN for the last couple of years and I have never had a pop under, pop over or anything else that could bother me.
Must be that odd little bit of software I installed years ago and forgot about – think its called Pithhelmet.
What a fuss about nothing.
And hey Boing777, I have no idea how porn-site discussion forums work. Are they as good as MDN?
Cheap comments and left hook criticisms seem to me part of the fun. Please don’t tell me you come here for really serious intellectual stimulation…though of course we all enjoy hearing from folk who really know their onions.
I agree Andy C. I’ve already donated financially to MDN and now this as a reward. Stop this pop-under bullshit MDN. Just stop it! It’s so bloody annoying.
pop unders simply suck and MDN sucks twice because they have them. I don’t care if there is something that blocks them or if there is a workaround, they just suck and it reflects GREATLY on MDN for using them.
I find it hard to believe this one single pop under a day generates so much revenue that MDN must have to exist as it does now. When I look around each page and see as much space taken up by ads as I do by actual content posted by MDN, I fail to buy into this lamebrain fudging of the facts that some of you people do. One pop under is not a colossal moneymaker, so lose it.
It’s a bullshit excuse.
Well, golly, I don’t know. Insanely Great Mac is such a lame site anyway. Who goes there? The people who write the stories don’t seem to have much of a clue anyway.
I don’t understand everyone’s whining. I have to click one red X button when I close my browser window a day. Boo hoo. My poor carpal tunnel. We put up with much worse on TV everyday (unless you don’t have one).
If you don’t like the content, then don’t come here. If you do like it, don’t let one tiny box cause you to go. Sometimes a tiny bit of effort is required to receive something FOR FREE!!!!
– David
Unfortunately, Dave, it’s about more than just closing a window.
MDN pretends to big this big Mac proponent who comments often about the Apple philosophy as oppsed to the Microsoft philosophy.
WHen MDN tells you you can easily just install pithhelmet or whatever to get rid of pop ups/unders, they’re doing nothing more than telling you to install a security patch. But they forget that Mac people don’t want to feel obligated to install things on their systems. We don’t want to have to install extra shit on our computers just to get a quality experience. We EXPECT a quality experience from the get-go.
MDN can easily deal with this by eliminating pop ups/unders and go back to adding even more on page advertising. It’s equally annoying, but requires no real interaction of my part.
The bottom line is this: If you’re going to be a Mac proponent (whch this site is abive and beyond an actual news outlet) then act like you have a clue about what the Mac experience is. Don’t be hypocritical and bash Microsoft for a windows product (IE) that can’t block pop ups/unders (which oddly enough MDN doesn’t link you to any of the articles where they’ve openly ripped MS for this) and then openly embrace a situation that forces Mac users to have to install extra software to block ads that shouldn’t be getting served to us anyway.
You can’t have it both ways.
So you’re saying that it’s MDN’s responsibility to fix the problem with Safari? Shouldn’t you complain to Apple about how their feature no longer works?
Granted, it is too bad that MDN needs to continue using pop-under ads, especially if they don’t generate much revenue, but whining about it just makes you look childish.
Gosh, I’m so annoyed by two popunders a day (I check in at home and at work) that I – I – I – want my money back! Yeah, that’s right, I want back every cent I’ve ever spent reading MDN — with interest! Time is money — can you imagine how much its costing me to click those two close boxes a day!?
Ooooh! Capitalism is so mean!
Can’t we just get Triumph to poop on them?
So your telling me because I don’t mind clicking a box, I don’t understand the Mac experience?
Your logic dosen’t follow.
What you really meant is that I don’t understand what you want/think the Mac experience to be.
I don’t think the Mac experience is having web sites that don’t have pop under ads. I don’t think that is Steve’s plan when he works on extending Mac capabilities through both hardware and software.
What you are complaining about is content. You don’t like the content. You are too lazy to close the box at the end of your browsing session.
I understand the Mac experience. I have converted many others to the Mac experience. I just vaule the content here, the comments and MDN takes that make me laught and think, enough to close the pop up ad.