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this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024
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The pop ups were terrible. The pop unders were somehow worse. Nothing like closing your browser window and then seeing an ad for a porn or gambling site.
On the other hand YOU’RE OUR 10000th VISITOR! CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE IPOD!!
audio ads sampled at max volume that multiplied every time you tried to close them...
They are the reason people started making products like ublock, and why for most of the 90s I browsed the web with javascript off unless I trusted the site or needed the service for the moment.
Now nothing renders if you do and you need 3 extensions just to not constantly be mobbed by ads
Ipod? What the hell's that? Never heard of it. Get off my Geocities!
Also on a side note:
A friend of mine's dad legit did win a million dollars in one of those popups. It was really early in the advertising days and I guess they were trying something.
Anyway he paid off all his kids' houses and bought a nice fishing truck.
I doubt it will ever happen again but I was personal witness for it happening at least once.
That said, even after watching that I have never, and will never willingly click any popup.
I worked very, very briefly as CTO for one of the biggest companies in that space. I’m talking like about a month or two. The scam was getting users to register and click through affiliate links which could be monetized to offset the costs of the free iPod.
Shortly after I left, the company was literally sued out of existence for false marketing around their prizes. I was just happy the checks cleared. I ended up making about $30k for a total of a few hours of work, and dodged a massive karmic hit.
A rare example of people profiting during the dotcom collapse, I tip my hat to you!