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| YOU AND YOURS
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| BILL THOMPSON's GUIDE TO POPUPS AND HOW TO BLOCK THEM |
 Bill Thompson is a technology analyst and commentator for BBC News Online
Listen again to Bill's advice on popups
Popups
A popup is a new web browser window that appears on your screen, usually without you requesting it. Often they are used for advertisements. Most appear when you first open a new web page, but some - called 'exit popups' arrive as you leave a site or close a browser window.
Others appear underneath your current web page: they are called 'popunders' and you may not notice them until you close your browser.Some popups are useful. They may give you additional information about a site, or let you log in to use a site's services. However very few are that important, and most are simply filled with irrelevant advertising and get in the way of you seeing the website you actually want to look at.
Closing Them Yourself
If a popup or popunder appears on your screen then you can close it by clicking on the close box on its window - the little 'X' at the top right. Be careful to click on the right place, as some of the more deceitful advertisers put what appears to be a 'close' or 'cancel' button on the advert itself. If you click there you will be taken to the advertiser's website. If the advert is an 'overlay', which doesn't appear in its own window but sits on top of the web page you are looking at, you'll need to find the 'close' button. Often these don't appear at first, and they can be hard to spot. Be careful not to click anywhere else on the advert as you will be taken to the advertiser's website.
Blocking
Popups and popunders have to be opened by your web browser. The page you are looking at has instructions in it to make the browser open a new window, usually smaller than the main one you are looking at. The advert is then displayed in that window. Fortunately, you can stop your browser doing this. If you use Navigator, Mozilla or Opera, then the browser can be configured to block any popups. Check Help for how to do this. If you use Internet Explorer you will need to use a separate program, which you will have to download and install. There are many free popup blockers listed at http://download.com.com/ (Search for popup), or you can install the Google Toolbar from http://toolbar.google.com/.
In general, don't just download a program that you find on a website you don't know anything about. Download.com checks programs before it lists them, so you are at less risk of getting something that will damage your computer.
For more information, you can Ask Bruce on BBCi Webwise at http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/askbruce/articles/browse/popups_1.shtml
Bill Thompson's website
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