Re: Launching a new browser window
WOLTER TJEENK WILLINK <wolter_at_tjeenkwillink.com> WROTE:
> In the previous issue of online ads digest Stefanie
> Olsen got a reaction from Rob Frankel on her question
> about launching a new browser window when a visitors
> tries to leave a site.
>
> I hope that launching new browser windows isn't going
> to be a trend in online marketing. Of course it's a
> pity when visitors try to leave the website you put so
> much marketing effort (and budget) in, but is it really
> necessary to pull your visitor back in in such an
> aggressive manor?
It looks like some serious education is needed in the
marketing community concerning opening new browser
windows. Ads which popup in new windows are annoying.
Web sites which popup in new browser windows are not.
There is a distinction.
The only complaint that Jakob Nielsen (the leading Web
usability expert) ever lodged against targeting links
to new windows was that he found unsavvy surfers
didn't realize their full-screen browsers were new
windows. That was then. Now most people are surfing in
Windows98 or a later incarnation. You get a little
task bar icon that shows you have the new browser
window.
Rob Frankel concluded his explanation with "A new
browser window allows them to come back if what they
clicked disappointed them." That is definitely
putting the surfer first.
The most annoying advertising window on the Web these
days is Yahoo!'s little movable window that pops up
every time you visit a Geocities Web site. You have
to click on the thing three times to get it to go away.
Why?
Instead of passing off high-handed lectures and
condescending vitriol as sage wisdom, I think it would
be more productive for people to take a look at what
Rob is actually talking about: being considerate to the
surfers. Clicking on a link blindly is an act of
faith, and all too often that faith is misplaced.
Science Fiction and Fantasy info_at_xenite.org
Visualizing Middle-earth, a book for all Tolkien fans
http://www.xenite.org/
Received on Wed Feb 07 2001 - 16:47:34 CST
