Microsoft IE to stop pop-ups

Microsoft plans to add pop-up blocking features to Internet Explorer next year as part of its Service Pack 2 update for Windows XP. Close on the heels of Opera, Mozilla, Firebird etc. Almost every other decent browser out there. Well I say, it’s about time.

Microsoft plans to add pop-up blocking features to Internet Explorer next year as part of its Service Pack 2 update for Windows XP. Close on the heels of Opera, Mozilla, Firebird etc. Almost every other decent browser out there. Well I say, it’s about time.

Microsoft said that it won’t release any further updates of Internet Explorer. But its “Service Packs” sound suspiciously like the mechnism by which MS will from now on offer additional functionality.

Actually MS is a bit late to the party. Opera has had this function since time immemorial, and Mozilla has had this function since the beginning of the Phoenix project (now Firebird). Opera, Mozilla and Netscape–all of which have only a minor share of the total browser market–give users the option to seamlessly block intrusive advertising while surfing the Web. Because Microsoft dominates the browser market, it could greatly influence people’s ability to remove the ads with ease.

Internet service providers have also responded to a consumer outcry against pop-ups in recent years despite potential losses from advertising sales. EarthLink led a trend among ISPs to introduce anti-pop-up tools in 2002. AOL upped the ante last year by promising not to sell pop-ups to third parties, and it released technology to fend off the ads in AOL version 8.0 last October. Microsoft matched AOL’s move in its own Internet access software. And just this September, Yahoo and SBC Communications updated their joint Internet access services to include a pop-up ad blocker.

Google has also given people tools to suppress pop-ups through its popular search toolbar.

It is not surprising that this should happen — about 88 percent of broadband users and 87 percent of dial-up users find that pop-ups interfere with their Web surfing experience, according to Forrester Research. But only 15 percent of consumers have downloaded ad-blocking software, or even know how to! Having a feature inside the browser itself is a much better way of avoiding intrusive pop-ups.

Only caveat, I wonder how the gazillion marketers will respond, given that pop-ups or “hyperstitials” are known to be twice as effective as ordinary banner ads for marketers (I don’t say this, Gartner does).

As far as I am concerned, I hope IE releases as many features as it wants through a new release or through the ubiquitous service packs. I use it mostly for the banking websites that believe IE is the only secure browser on the planet and code only for IE (although Opera or Firebird can do just fine with all the content that is actually on the site!)