A PopUP window is a pop-up ad designed to drive web traffic or collect email addresses. Such elements are often forms of online advertising at WorldWideWeb. As a rule, these are new windows that open in a web browser to display ads. Usually they are generated by JavaScript using cross-site scripting (XSS), sometimes with a secondary payload and using AdobeFlash.
A variation of PopUP are pop-up ads that open in a new browser window, hidden in the active one.
History of occurrence
The first pop-up ads appeared on Tripod.com hosting in the late 1990s. Ethan Zuckerman claims to have written code to run ads in separate windows in response to complaints about banner ads. Subsequently, the developer repeatedly apologized for the inconvenience that his invention began to cause.
Opera was the first major browser to include pop-up blocking tools. The Mozilla browser later improved these designs by starting to block the PopUP window generated when the page loads. In the early 2000s, all major web browsers except Internet Explorer allowed the user to almost completely remove unwanted pop-up ads. In 2004, Microsoft released Windows XP SP2, which added a lock to this browser.
Most modern browsers come with pop-up protection tools. Third-party tools typically include other features, such as filtering ads.
Popup windows
Some types of downloadable content — images, free music, and others — may trigger pop-ups. In addition, they sometimes look like regular web pages, and the site name will appear in the search bar. Many resources use pop-ups to display information without interrupting the currently open page. For example, if you filled out a form on a web page and needed additional guidance, the PopUP window would give you additional information without causing the loss of any data already entered into the form. Most pop-up blockers allow this download.
But keep in mind that some web installers, such as those used by McAfee, use a pop-up window to install software. On many Internet browsers, pressing the Ctrl key while clicking the link will bypass the filter.
At the same time, clicking (even randomly) on one pop-up window can lead to the opening of others.
Pop Up Blocker Bypass
The combination of an ad banner and a pop-up is a “hover ad” that uses DHTML to display on the screen over the content of the page. Using JavaScript, an ad can be overlaid on top of a web page in a transparent layer. This advertisement can appear in almost all cases when the author of the advertisement wants it. Such a PopUP-window script cannot be noticed in advance. For example, an ad may contain AdobeFlash animations associated with the advertiser's site. It may also look like a regular window. Since ads are part of a web page, they cannot be blocked using a blocker, but their opening can be avoided with third-party applications (like AdBlock and AdblockPlus) or with custom style sheets.
Popunder
Such an announcement is similar to a regular PopUP window, but it appears hidden behind the main browser window, and does not appear in front of it. When pop-up ads became widespread and began to occupy the entire computer screen, many users learned to immediately close them without looking. Therefore, there appeared PopUNDER, which do not interfere with the user viewing the contents of the site. They usually go unnoticed until the main browser window is closed or minimized. Studies have shown that users respond better to such ads than pop-up ads, because they do not look so annoying.
Popular ad technology
The ad uses two very simple JavaScript features introduced in 1997 using the Netscape 2.0B3 browser. This methodology is widely used on the Internet. Modern web publishers and advertisers use it to create a window in front of page content, load ads, and then send it off the screen.
Most modern browsers only allow popups to open popups if there is any interaction with the user (for example, a mouse click). Any non-interactive calls (timer callback, boot events, etc.) will block a new window. To get around this limitation, most pop-up ads are triggered using a mouse event listener attached directly to the document or document body. This allows you to capture all cases of mouse clicks on the page that were not used by other event handlers. For example, when a user selects text, a mouse click is noticed by a listener attached to the document. As a result, a popup window opens using the above code.
Tricky PopUP Window Generator
Users of various sites and web applications constantly encounter unwanted pop-ups when using a browser. Typically, such a PopUP window is removed using the “close” or “cancel” function. Since this is a typical user response, the developers began to apply some tricks. So, when developing advertising messages, on-screen buttons or controls are created that are similar to the “close” or “cancel” option. However, when the user selects one of these options, the button performs an unexpected or unauthorized action (for example, opening a new pop-up window or downloading an unwanted file to the user's system).
Since technologies for web design allow authors to use any option of "imitation", some users refuse to click or interact with any element inside the pop-up window in general.
URL redirect
Sometimes URLs are redirected to advertising pages using the Background URL redirection function. They sometimes open in a new tab, and then the contents of the old background tab are replaced with advertising pages using a redirect. AdblockPlus, uBlock, or NoScript cannot block these popup redirects. This feature is increasingly used by advertising distributors in search of a way to make the PopUP window the most active.
How to get rid of pop-ups
How to remove ads in the browser? First check for updates. Keeping your browser up to date will go a long way in dealing with pop-ups. Most browsers are set to automatically update, but it can be turned off. This process usually takes only a few minutes.
- Firefox: Click the button with the name of the application in the upper left corner. Hover over Help and select About Firefox. This will open a browser version information window. If your browser is not updated, updates will be automatically downloaded and installed.
- Chrome: Click the menu button in the upper right corner. Select “About Chrome” at the bottom, a new tab will open, and the browser will check for updates. If they are, they will be installed automatically.
- Internet Explorer: The update method depends on the version of browser you are using. For older options, you will need to enter Windows Update. For Internet Explorer 10 and 11, you can enable automatic updates by clicking the Gear icon and selecting About Internet Explorer.
If updates do not help
Sometimes a PopUP window for a site and similar software are too deeply embedded to be removed by updating. In such cases, reinstalling or changing the web browser may help solve the problem.
First, download the latest version of the browser you want to use. You can find download links on the home page of each application.
Delete the current browser. You can do this from the control panel, access to which is possible from the Start menu. Open “Programs and Features” or “Add / Remove Programs” and find your browser in the list. When you find it, click "Delete" and follow the instructions. But remember that Internet Explorer cannot be uninstalled on Windows.
Be sure to save your bookmarks and user preferences so that you can import them again when you install a new browser. At the time of removal, you will be prompted to do so.
Install a new browser. After removing the old browser, run the installation file that you downloaded earlier. Follow the installation instructions and import the old bookmarks. When a message is displayed whether you want to make the installed browser the default application, select "Yes".
How to use popup blockers
There is a second way to remove ads in the browser.
Firefox
By default, pop-up blocker is enabled in the browser. If this function is not active, you can access the settings in the Options menu. How to do it?
Click the "Firefox" button and select "Options."
Click on the “Content” tab.
Check the box next to “Block pop-ups.”
Click the Exceptions button. Make sure that only trusted sites are listed.
Chrome
Pop-ups are blocked by default in this browser, but sometimes there are other settings. If this is your case, do the following.
Press the menu button in the upper right corner and click on “Settings”.
Click the “Show advanced settings” link at the bottom of the page.
Click "Content Settings" in the "Privacy" section.
Scroll down to the Pop-ups section. Make sure that the option “Do not allow pop-ups” is selected.
Click the Manage Exceptions button. Make sure that only trusted sites are listed.
InternetExplorer
Pop-up blocking is enabled by default in later versions of the browser. If this is not done, do it yourself.
Open the Tools menu or the Mechanism icon. Select Internet Options.
Click on the “Privacy” tab.
Make sure the “Enable Popup Blocker” checkbox is selected.
Click the "Settings" button. Make sure that only trusted sites are listed.
Adjust the lock level. From the drop-down menu at the bottom, select a protection level. Set to High to prevent pop-ups.
Plugins
In addition, install add-ons for your browser. There are several add-ons that you can download on Firefox and Chrome, which will help minimize the number of pop-ups that you encounter. Many different add-ons are available, so be sure to read the reviews and download only proven applications.
For Firefox, install AdBlock and NoScript to prevent sites from loading pages and content that you don’t want. NoScript is unavailable for Chrome, but it successfully uses a program to block ads and pop-ups called AdBlock.