Trevor Morris

I think that 2004 was the year of the popup stopper application. Everyone and their grandmothers now know of this application and as its title implies, what it does. IE now has a built in popup stopper, however there were many programs already out there which could be used in conjunction with the browser to block these adverts.

Then there is also Firefox, which burst into the mainstream in 2004. One of the main features advertised on the Mozilla website was a build in popup stopper… However, in 2005 things maybe taking a turn for the worse.

Recently there has been a new fad of adverts that pop under instead of over. It was first brought to attention as a possible bug in the latest Mac browser, Safari. But it seems that this was no bug as the same effect was being found in all other browsers. For more information check out the macfitit article which talks about the problem in more depth.

After a little research around the web I came across a website that sells a program to block unwanted Messenger service popup messages. You may or may not have seen them, but they’re a little grey alert box which contains plain text information. Well, some advertisers have hijacked this Microsoft communication line to spam adverts direct to your screen. I have been affected by this problem, but quickly found a solution by searching online. However, this website is selling a program to stop these popups for only $12.95.

Now, if you feel inclined to waste your money, go buy this program if you get the problem. However, if you want to be clever and fix the problem all by yourself, simply use Google and you’ll find a wealth of information… “How to turn off Windows Messenger Service” has solutions for different operating systems and there is even a solution by Microsoft themselves for Windows XP.