I didn't know if this has been mentioned before, but I recently installed the Google toolbar on my homepage and it has blocked every popup since (over 500 in 2 weeks), and it's free!!!  I'm not affiliated with Google in any way but I'm so happy with this, I just wanted to get the word out.  Go to www.toolbar.google.com and check it out.  YNH.

have you read Google's (voluminous) privacy statement?  

i have and i immediately changed my mind, as much as i love Google. the truth is by installing that toolbar you're agreeing to let Google install a cookie (different from the somewhat innocuous ones they already try to force on you) and then they  keep detailed track of the searches you do, the sites you visit and all in the name of providing you with better customized service (sound familiar?)

remember this ... nothing on the net is free! ... not since those commercial-advertising  money-grubbing bandwitdh-polluting nimwits invaded the net.  i'm sure there must be a handful of individuals here that remember the internet in its golden age. no not mid-90s ... mid-80s!  when no stinking money-grubbing capitalist pig was allowed to set foot on it and if-n-when they did they got judiciously reamed by the rest of us!  LOL

I think it is a coincidence.

.. I'd read about spyware & tracking cookies but wasn't too concerned about it until I got my cable high speed internet access connected, and then thought I'd better check it out just to see what was on my system since I surf so many sites.  After I downloaded and ran it I was surprised to see how much actually filtered thru my system; at least 20 or 30!  It's basically a utility you can run anytime so it's not going to use any of your system resources when you're not running it, plus it's freeware so it won't cost you anything to try it but he does ask for a donation if you keep it.  It's a PC Mag Editor's Choice & ZDnet 5-Star award winner..

Check the link below to Panicware. They have a freeware pop-up stopper called, oddly enough, "Pop-up Stopper."  It stops most pop-ups and pop-unders that I've encountered, while allowing you to override it when needed. And it doesn't install any tracking cookies that I've found.

I use it..It's great!!!

This is the same company that send me 50 pop-us a day!  I'm glad it works, but I'm holding off (for now) out of principle.

Spyware is a big source of pop ups.  When dowloading stuff from the internet, notably sharing sites like Kazaa, they can often plant some files on your local drive that are a major source of pop ups.

It happened to me, drove me nuts. I did a Google search on spyware and found some some utilities that can search your local drive for potential sources. I think I used SecureClean (free trial for 15 days) and deleted some recommended files, and all my cookies, problem solved.

How do you deinstall the toolbar? Thanks guys; guess I'm one of the suckers that are born every minute!
444

I almost typed feature instead of function.    
It is Page Rank and Category that send your surfing history back to Google, both of which are entirely superfluous. (sic)  Until their IPO, Page Rank was the sole criteria used to order your search results.  Now you can buy higher placement in the list.  The Page Rank button will tell you where the site you are currently visiting would rank on their list.  Zippity fucking doo dah!  Category is only slightly more useful.  It will take you to the Google Category listings under which the page your on would be listed.  They don't admit to Page Info sending tracking information back to google, but by it's function it must.  Uncheck those 3 "features" in the toolbar options, and the Google toolbar won't track your surfing habits.  (any more than almost every single site on the internet already does)

PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  Do NOT encourage these assholes by buying their products or even reading their ads.  Spam has exploded to epidemic proportions because people actually clicked the links.  In the words of a great lawman, "We have to...

I'll second that - don't EVER do anything to a spam email other than delete it.  Also don't EVER buy anything from a telemarketer and if you know someone who has, let them know what an idiot they are and tell them to NEVER do it again.

i heard one estimate by the experts (spam-warriors) that by 2008 almost 99% of the internet will be choked by spam traffic (especially high-volume adverts like jpgs and mpegs) ... everyday i have to spend 20minutes deleting viagra and mortgage ads (who've now mutated to image ads so text filters can't block them) and this is with some of the most sophisticated spam-blockers in existence (not the personal kind i mean)

these money-grubbing bastards will eventually KILL the internet and god knows what will have to emerge from its ashes to let us once again resume surfing it for high-quality porn! [argh]

While we're on the subject of SPAM...

"This is the same company that send me 50 pop-us a day!  I'm glad it works, but I'm holding off (for now) out of principle."

??
I've never received a single pop-up or spam email from Panicware. You're not talking about the little sign that pops-up from the system tray when the program swats a pop-up window, are you? That can be turned off in the preferences menu.

--b.

-- Modified on 9/10/2003 11:13:35 AM

...seem to work really well for me. They do fight a little, but if you're not a "power user", be careful with Spybot, as you can delete files that aren't causing issues if you're not careful.

Cheers,
MC Humpty D