Ad with sound launches with no warning

[ULTRAGOTHA]

I came back after being away for a while. The site launched an ad with sound with no warning and no way to turn it off. Had to leave the site to turn it off.

I don't visit sites that launch sound without my permission and figured you would want to know you've got an ad on here that's doing that.


I didn't get the name of the advertiser. I logged back in and clicked around but the ad didn't repeat.

[Em]

Did it pop up near the lower right-hand corner of the page? If so, I've been getting it too, but with my PC muted I didn't realise it had sound. It has a "this video will finish in 10 seconds"-type countdown at the top.

[thorny locust]

Hmmm. I've been getting ads playing video and sound in the lower right hand corner of the page; but they don't say they'll finish in ten seconds, and they do have a close-this-ad x in one corner.

They don't all seem to be from the same company; but I don't watch enough of them to be sure as I close them as fast as I can.

[ULTRAGOTHA]

Yes, it was in the lower right corner. I couldn't find a closing X.

[Em]

Of course now that I want to see one they're hiding.

[Beachlife!]

There is a closing X, upper right hand corner I think.

[wanderwoman]

No it's the lower right hand corner. I have trouble closing them because my taskbar is on autohide and I am not always fast enough to click before it pops back up and covers the x.

[Avril]

The most obnoxious part about those ads, to me, is that when they pop up, they have both the thing that lets you close it (hardly visible at all) and a big, banner on top saying, "Don't want to see this ad? Click here!" which takes you to another site offering to sell you ad-blocking software for $29.95.

Talk about advertisers creating a need and then filling it.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Self-launching ads with sound is the new thing. A new bad thing, but that doesn't seem to bother the advertisers or their agencies. FWIW, if I click on another screen within snopes, it goes away (i.e., I don't have to leave the site, just the page).

Seaboe

[thorny locust]

Originally Posted by Avril

The most obnoxious part about those ads, to me, is that when they pop up, they have both the thing that lets you close it (hardly visible at all) and a big, banner on top saying, "Don't want to see this ad? Click here!" which takes you to another site offering to sell you ad-blocking software for $29.95.

That I haven't seen (the banner; I agree that the closing x is not highly visible.)

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

FWIW, if I click on another screen within snopes, it goes away (i.e., I don't have to leave the site, just the page).

What I generally do is open links from the "today's posts" or "new posts" page in another tab; and, once having opened the ones I want to read, go through them while leaving the original tab open, as it's slightly faster to check later in the day which new posts there are by starting from that page.

Most of the time these ads show up only on the "new posts" page; but, often, by the time they load, I'm reading one of the others, and am alerted to the ad by the sound, but have to switch back to the page it's coming from in order to close it -- by now I know which page to check first, at least.

-- I wonder whether some of the differences we're noting are related to which OS and browser are being used? I'm in Firefox for Mac 10.6.

ETA: I have bad eyes and often have pages zoomed for easier reading; I've discovered that this sometimes hides close boxes (in general, not specifically for this ad) and I may have to zoom back out again to see them. At the magnification I usually read snopes by I can see the close on these, however.

[Em]

Is this the one? It has both a bottom-corner X and a top countdown (URL copied from another area of the screen).

[thorny locust]

The one I just closed was from Prudential, and was in two parts: one chunk in the lower right corner, and what appeared to be a separate box above it saying something about an apron. Both of them disappeared when I clicked the x in the lower box.

[ULTRAGOTHA]

Originally Posted by thorny locust

The one I just closed was from Prudential, and was in two parts: one chunk in the lower right corner, and what appeared to be a separate box above it saying something about an apron. Both of them disappeared when I clicked the x in the lower box.

Yes, that was the one. It just happened again to me.

I absolutely hate having sound launched without my permission.

[effo5231]

Do yourself a favor, install AdBlock browser plugin. It's free, compatible with all the most common web browsers, and removes pretty much all adds, both pop up and in-site.

[erwins]

Snopes operates this message board using ad revenues. It's kind of not cool to advocate blocking those ads on this board.

[effo5231]

Originally Posted by erwins

Snopes operates this message board using ad revenues. It's kind of not cool to advocate blocking those ads on this board.

Adblock can also be adjusted to block ads from certain sources rather than whole sites. Simply block the audiobased ad and leave the rest on if you feel like disabling ads wholesale is unfair.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

I usually keep my sound turned off at work, just in case, but not at home.

When I came to the site this morning, I got one in which a teacher was telling children not to take drugs (prescription type) even if people (presumably parents and doctors) tell them they are helpful. Not sure I can give that one my approval.

[erwins]

Originally Posted by effo5231

Adblock can also be adjusted to block ads from certain sources rather than whole sites. Simply block the audiobased ad and leave the rest on if you feel like disabling ads wholesale is unfair.

I know. I have this site white listed. I was commenting on what you posted, not the capabilities of the plug in. I think it's good to let snopes know when an ad is obnoxious, and it's up to you whether or not you choose to block it. I just think it's not cool to advocate blocking them here on the board.

[Gibbie]

This evening it's been playing without the ad showing. So all I'm getting is the sound. I couldn't even find it until I just closed this tab blindly.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by Gibbie

This evening it's been playing without the ad showing. So all I'm getting is the sound. I couldn't even find it until I just closed this tab blindly.

Happened to me too!