Leo, I’m having a problem with these banners (or whatever they are) that some
web pages now have popping up under the tabs or above the task bar in my
browser to diminish the viewing area of the screen. Some are like ads and
others are promoting social media like Facebook and Twitter. I guess they are
not considered pop-ups because I have a pop-up blocker, but do you know of any
way of getting rid of them and preventing them from appearing?
In this excerpt from
Answercast #13, I talk about social media buttons and other page design
elements that cannot be removed from web pages; and what you might do about
it.
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Stopping the pop-ups
It really depends on what they are.
My guess is that they really are not pop-ups as you say, but rather parts of
the web page itself that are designed to look like bars or toolbars or pop-up
things at the bottom.
I know that I had one on Ask Leo! for a while promoting my newsletter. I got
a few complaints about it because it did, indeed, steal some real estate from
the bottom of the screen. There is no way to block those that I’m aware of.
Page design elements
The problem is that they are simply parts of the web page that you’re
viewing. Which means that they’re not using any kind of pop-up technique. They
are simply doing the same thing that the rest of the content is doing – except
they’re doing it in a way that looks like a pop-up or a toolbar.
Browser settings
Now, I say, “It depends,” because not all pop-up blockers will block all
pop-ups. That’s something that can vary a little bit from blocker to blocker, so
you might try using a different browser.
The browsers each have their own pop-up blockers built in. That’s a good
opportunity for you to see if one behaves better than the other.
But in all honesty, I see them too. Good examples, like you’ve pointed out,
are the social media buttons that happen to be across the bottom of many
websites.
Google toolbar
Another really classic example right now is the black toolbar that Google
puts across the top of all its web pages. Those aren’t toolbars; those are just
things that look like toolbars at the top of the page.
I don’t know of anything you can do about them other than living with them
or deciding not to use that particular or page or service because it’s too
annoying.
There are some Chrome extensions you can purchase that will block or white out almost any ad that comes on the website. One will even paste kittens in place of the ad if you wish. There is still a lot of white real estate visible, but no jumping or flashing or the other distractions that used to appear. (And ‘ctrl +’ can always increase the readable portion of the screen anywho.)
I do sympathise with the problem, but there are two sides to this. On many occasions the advert is actually paying for the content which you are receiving free of charge. Someone has to pay for it otherwise the author may stop providing his service. This is similar to the voluntary contributions to freeware authors.
What we want therefore is a way to stop these things appearing in our browser, but for them to continue appearing in most other user’s browsers, so that the advertisers still feel that they are getting value for money. As a result the way to stop them cannot be too easy.
Clearly I cannot publish the complete answer – you will have to work that out for yourself. However, if you try FlashPeak’s Slimbrowser you will begin to get the idea. Start by blocking all the moving ones, and then pick off the other types that annoy you the most.