Pop-ups are the annoying ads and other things on the Internet that open on your monitor as you're surfing the web. Their main goal is to either get you to visit a certain website or to collect your name and email address for marketing purposes.
These pop-ups are usually caused by something called Javascript, which is a simple programming language built into the web page you're visiting.
Sometimes these pop-ups can be useful. It may ask you for your login information or something else to log you into the website, or it might give you more information on something without taking you away from the page you're looking at. Music sites, for example, often use a pop-up for their players. These reasons are all legitimate uses and are quite a bit more acceptable than some of the advertising pop-ups.
The Javascript language can set the size of the window, where it's displayed on the screen and even whether or not the close button gets displayed. If the menu bars and close button are hidden, it can be next to impossible to get rid of the pop-up, unless you either enter what it's asking for or close your browser completely.
Some of these pop-ups can cause other problems as well. They may be poorly programmed, or they may be intentionally malicious and can cause many windows to be opened. And when you close one, several more open to replace it. When this happens, the only way to get rid of them is to close the browser.
A recent type of pop-up is created using software called Flash and can even be made to follow your mouse around the screen as you move it.
One of the more notorious uses of pop-ups is in adware, which often opens pop-ups related to the web pages you're looking at, even if it's not from that website. This adware is supported by advertising, which is why it uses these pop-ups to get your attention. It usually comes along with some other program, which may actually be useful, and gets installed at the same time. If you don't read the license agreement closely when you install it, you might miss the fact that this is going to happen even though they tell you (although it's usually hidden somewhere in the middle of the agreement, where most people never see it).
Another form of pop-up is called the pop-under. It opens a window behind the main window and you won't see it until you close your main browser window. These types are less annoying, but can still be a pain.
The main problem with pop-ups is the nuisance they cause, and almost every web browser has some kind of pop-up killer included these days.
You can also get specialized pop-up killer software that will catch most of the pop-ups that the browsers miss, giving you an almost 100% pop-up free internet experience.
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