Top 10 types of On-line ads I hate.
(Ads Publishers should NOT allow.)

I know advertising in general is an easy target to pick on, it is something we all love to hate. The truth is we appreciate the lower cost of content, thanks to advertising sponsors. However on-line ads are a breed unto themselves, they are often much more annoying than ads on television or in magazines. Here are the top things I hate about on-line advertisements, and why publishers should avoid them:

  1. In your face Pop-up Ads, especially with non-existent or difficult to find close buttons. I include "interstitial/page takeover" ads (ad pages before arriving or on leaving a site) with these. Different technology, same pain in the butt.
  2. Camouflage/Trick ads. Ads that trick you into clicking them by masquerading as content, or even worse, sign-up, sign-in or download buttons. (Do you know who you gave your e-mail address to? )
  3. Autoplay audio or video files. I find the audio annoying to me and the people around me, so I have to find the ad to turn it off (not always in the visible part of the page). This is extra annoying since I'm often on a cellular network and I am paying data charges for the displeasure of seeing the ad.
  4. Blinking, animated, expanding and floating ads that are just plain irritating and or cover content that I am trying to view.
  5. Unrelated ads. No relevance to the topic or theme, no value. I get it that I'm not interested in many of the products being advertised, but some ads are so far from the topic or audience it is ridiculous.
  6. Follow me ads. Ads that follow me around from site to site. Know as re-targeting or re-marketing these ads are way more annoying and even creepy than they are helpful.
  7. Content text links that is an ad link, often quite unrelated to the content itself.
  8. Click bait ads. We have all seen them, and yes I have click on a couple to find little to no content and more ads than a junk yard dog has flees. From wardrobe failures to the many things you didn't know about celebrities, these ads tease us with content, and serve us more ads. Hoping we will ad-click our way out of the on-line-hell they lured us into.
  9. Ad gates (my term). First watch this ad or respond to this survey, then you can see the content. One ad for 5 seconds, annoying. One ad for 30 seconds, I'm not likely going to see the content. Five ads for 30 seconds, does anybody ever see the content? Do the advertisers or publishers care?
  10. Native Advertising, where the content is the ad. John Oliver (Last Week Tonight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_F5GxCwizc) has done a great analysis and send up of "native advertising".
  11. Bonus: Hard to find "continue/next" links among all the ads. While this is a function of the web-site, trying to spread a little content between many pages and ads, it is very annoying.

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