There has been this annoying trend of late – particularly in the Fairfax-run websites – for auto-starting video advertisements to be “included as a service” in their pages. I’ve also heard auto-starting AUDIO ads – (so there’s nowhere to click to stop them) – invading my web experience.
However, I’ve just stumbled across something perhaps even more annoying, as the screen dump below displays:
This Telstra advert took over the page. No other functionality on the page could be used. The video ran about 5 or 6 times before it actually let go of the page, and let me do anything.
I don’t really mind advertising like this normally, but take a closer look. There’s no close button, anywhere. I simply HAD to sit through it. With advertising on television, you can walk away. You don’t have to look at billboards, or advertising in print media.
Technically, I didn’t have to watch the window while this advert was running, but it gave me no option than to let it run through. Poor form.