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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Tue, May 31st 2005 5:19pm





McDonald's The Latest To Try Browser Hijacking Ads

from the seems-annoying dept

As consumer facing companies look for newer and more invasive ways to advertise their products, apparently a new trick is to hijack the user's browser and turn it into a giant ad. This seems particularly annoying -- though, thankfully, it doesn't work on Firefox. The latest to try this is McDonald's, but apparently others have been using this trick. The article is a little vague on the details, but you could visit a random site, and suddenly the look of the browser itself will change to become a big advertisement for whatever company. It appears that advertisers really don't get that annoying the hell out of users doesn't do them much good in getting people to think positively about the brand. It appears this follows the slow death of pop-ups and the annoying trend to use floating ads over pages. Still, you have to wonder why Microsoft lets websites arbitrarily change the look and feel of a user's browser without their permission.

2 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Legacy of their web designers strategy

    identicon
    TJ, May 31st, 2005 @ 5:33pm

    Many of the 'features' that have or can be exploited in IE are a result of catering to web designers. While a big IE market share tactic was free/bundled, another was getting web sites to put little "best viewed with IE" or sometimes only works with IE setups. Web designers didn't usually do this because they loved Microsoft, they did it because Microsoft threw in non-standard features that designers liked in those days. IE can be masterfully manipulated by the site being visited, while what the browser user wants is very secondary. Another good reason to use Firefox, Opera, etc.

    But it remains amazing why companies think one obnoxious advertising strategy will be more welcome than another. Hey, if this helps convert another 10% of the user base away from IE, great!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    eskayp, May 31st, 2005 @ 8:44pm

    "Still, you have to wonder why Microsoft lets websites arbitrarily change the look and feel of a user's browser without their permission."
    Why?....
    Because of money.
    Users' money, to be specific.
    Money that MS, developers, and advertisers can then control.
    Letting users buy their own hardware allows them to believe they actually own it.
    Just like a $28,000 dollar vehicle with $24,000 owing for the next 3 years that is already depreciated down to $21,000.
    In truth, the business interests increasingly own the users.
    That's why.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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