Block Ads, Defeat Pop-Up's, and STOP "Page Hijacking"

You're not alone!

Who hasn't surfed the web looking for information only to
have their session interrupted by those annoying pop-up
windows displaying everything from banner ads to newsletter
sign-up's?

Though pop-up windows and other methods of influencing a
user's online experiences originally had positive
intentions, they now seem only to annoy and manipulate
users at every turn.

For anyone who ever felt extremely irritated by online
advertising, the following advice should help.

** Pop-Up Ads **

Pop-up windows open new pages in your browser without your
permission and, sometimes, without your knowledge.

They slow down your surfing and cause confusion, even for
the most experienced surfer.

If you don't want to see pop-up windows in your browser,
you should get a free pop-up blocker like the ones that
come with the Google tool bar (http:/ oolbar.google.com)
or the Alexa tool bar (http://download.alexa.com).

Either of these free tools "plug in" to your web browser
and will stop the majority of pop-ups, including the
situations where 5 or 10 pop-up windows fly up on your
screen and "attack" you all at once!

** Page Hijacking **

Have you ever surfed along peacefully when all of a sudden
you hit your back button and nothing happened?

Click-click-click - no matter how many times you hit the
button, it seemed your web browser had been "wheel locked"
to a certain site and no amount of effort allowed you to
back track.

This nasty little trick, otherwise know as "page hijacking"
involves inserting a small bit of code into a web page that
disables your browser's "back" button.

To defeat this little nasty just click and hold the down
arrow next to your browser's "back" button (on both
Internet Explorer and Netscape) to see a list of the last
few pages you've browsed.

Click on a link in the history list to free yourself and
resume surfing.

Careful though, you may not have been hijacked, you may
have been the victim of the next dirty trick.

** Fast Meta Refresh **

A predecessor of the pop-up window, the fast meta refresh
trick involves opening one page and almost instantly having
your browser redirected to another page.

This tactic, often used by search engine promoters, often
leads to wasted time on pages that have little relevance to
your search.

It may also entail opening five to ten additional windows,
frequently displaying offensive material such as
pornography.

Closing all your browser windows and starting over seems
the only sure-fire way to defeat this tactic. Hitting your
back button to retreat from the problem will usually just
cause more windows to appear.

Quick Tip: If you find yourself attacked by multiple pop-up
ads, hold down the key and hit the key
repeatedly, all the web browser windows on your screen will
disappear faster than new ones can pop open.

If you feel a website operator appears to openly abuse
visitors with annoying or unscrupulous tactics, feel free
to complain to their hosting company or the search engines.

By doing so you might save the next person a whole lot of
inconvenience.