71–80 of 143 posts
I don't see why Dropbox is on there. That's just a sign in/register window for a service that requires an account.
When you try to download the software, they try to make you sign up or log in for no reason.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You find them annoying, but your customers probably wont. Remember you are not the best case when deciding what is effective at capturing your audience. You are more "internet savvy" or whatever... Popups, email marketing, retargeted ads, et al are very, very effective means of capturing an audience online.
Don't fool yourself. Everybody finds them annoying. Like the frog in the frying pan who sits as the heat is turned up, folks have begun to believe its the price of visiting the internet.
I'm struggling with this now and I could use some insight. I absolutely share OP's loathing of these pop-ups. On the other hand, I'm just starting to try to drive traffic to my physical-product website (through PPC ads, facebook marketing, etc). I KNOW I need to try to collect some contact information. But I cannot find a way to do it that isn't appalling. - Collect on landing page? How do they know if they want to s…
Some demos:
In case you're wondering why anyone would use these _obviously_ annoying popups, here's why: If done right, they actually work. Here's a real example: In March I added a delayed popup to my blog to invite people to subscribe for future updates about user acquisition. It was on a delayed timer so that the reader has a chance to at least get part-way through the post. Also, if you closed it out once then you wouldn't s…
How many of those 232 signed up because they want to receive e-mails from you, and how many signed up because they thought they had to in order to proceed? If you put up a prompt saying "enter your e-mail address" then a lot of people will obey regardless of your reason for prompting. Most computer users don't really understand computers and have no idea when a site would legitimately require an e-mail address and wh…
You know, the age of ACTUAL pop-up windows really sucked, and it was amazing when browsers rendered them largely obsolete by limiting how websites could launch another window but at least all of those had the X in the SAME EXACT PLACE. The new crop of lightboxed modal popups that are now ubiquitous are 100 times worse since they: - are modal - often work poorly on mobile - have as many different dismiss mechanisms as…
I really wish there was a way to globally disable all lightboxes without having to disable JavaScript entirely. Maybe a Machine Learning model to prevent scripts from executing if the classifier indicates it will spawn a lightbox...
In case you're wondering why anyone would use these _obviously_ annoying popups, here's why: If done right, they actually work. Here's a real example: In March I added a delayed popup to my blog to invite people to subscribe for future updates about user acquisition. It was on a delayed timer so that the reader has a chance to at least get part-way through the post. Also, if you closed it out once then you wouldn't s…
"I realize the price to pay for this is mildly annoying the other 98%." To me this does not make sense, and is exactly the reason I avoid annoying users in my applications (advertising or otherwise). Because you definitely have numbers to back up the effectiveness of the popup (although I would argue it is not effective). What you don't have is of the 98% you annoyed, how many will not return because of the annoyance…
In case you're wondering why anyone would use these _obviously_ annoying popups, here's why: If done right, they actually work. Here's a real example: In March I added a delayed popup to my blog to invite people to subscribe for future updates about user acquisition. It was on a delayed timer so that the reader has a chance to at least get part-way through the post. Also, if you closed it out once then you wouldn't s…
"I realize the price to pay for this is mildly annoying the other 98%." To me this does not make sense, and is exactly the reason I avoid annoying users in my applications (advertising or otherwise). Because you definitely have numbers to back up the effectiveness of the popup (although I would argue it is not effective). What you don't have is of the 98% you annoyed, how many will not return because of the annoyance…
In case you're wondering why anyone would use these _obviously_ annoying popups, here's why: If done right, they actually work. Here's a real example: In March I added a delayed popup to my blog to invite people to subscribe for future updates about user acquisition. It was on a delayed timer so that the reader has a chance to at least get part-way through the post. Also, if you closed it out once then you wouldn't s…
There's no way I finish reading anything that pops up halfway through. That's just more callous manipulation of my browser. I leave instantly. If the back button doesn't work, I kill it. How many of those 11,848 people didn't finish your article? Do you care?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You find them annoying, but your customers probably wont. Remember you are not the best case when deciding what is effective at capturing your audience. You are more "internet savvy" or whatever... Popups, email marketing, retargeted ads, et al are very, very effective means of capturing an audience online.
Don't fool yourself. Everybody finds them annoying. Like the frog in the frying pan who sits as the heat is turned up, folks have begun to believe its the price of visiting the internet.
I don't believe that's true. What we see here is an exhibit of the False-Consensus Effect[1]. You believe they are annoying, and many on HN believe they are annoying, therefore they (popups) must be annoying to everyone. This logic ignores the fact that 99% of web users are not technical, and view the web in an entirely different light.
On ecommerce websites, popup forms are incredibly effective at capturing customer email addresses later used in direct email marketing. So effective, there is an entire industry built around providing the technology and controls to target certain customers with the popups (viewed 6 pages but did not add anything to cart yet, sat on a product page for 2 minutes, etc...).
For a lot of popups, an incentive is offered to the potential customer. Give us your email address and we'll give you 5% off your next purchase. We're basically buying the right to email market to you... understanding full well that some customers will be annoyed with the popup, and some might even provide fake details. But for the majority of customers, we just bought their loyalty. They will make a purchase with their new 5% off coupon, and will likely shop the site again when we email them promo offers later on.
If you visited one of my sites, and got annoyed by the popup, then I'd be OK with that... you were not my target. But if your parents or grandparents visited my site... chances are they'd fill out the popup. They are my target.
I'm struggling with this now and I could use some insight. I absolutely share OP's loathing of these pop-ups. On the other hand, I'm just starting to try to drive traffic to my physical-product website (through PPC ads, facebook marketing, etc). I KNOW I need to try to collect some contact information. But I cannot find a way to do it that isn't appalling. - Collect on landing page? How do they know if they want to s…
Put the form at the bottom of the content. Presumably those who have read through and like it will then sign up.