Microsoft gets aggressive with pop-up ads

REDMOND, Wash., March 29 (UPI) -- Pop-up ads may be history soon: U.S. software giant Microsoft has decided to install an automatic blocker on its Internet Explorer browser.

Since Microsoft's browser runs on about 90 percent of the world's personal computers, its pop-up ad blocker -- which will run by default -- is expected deal a virtual death-blow to the irritating phenomenon.

The software giant's action has sparked a reaction from companies that depend on pop-up ads.

One heavy user of pop-ads, travel site Orbitz, has launched a counterattack on the company's chosen ad medium.

"Like most things on the Internet, they have a life cycle," said Mike Sands, chief marketing officer at the company.

Sands isn't giving up on the pop-up ad -- or its sneakier relative, the "pop-under" ad, which opens up under other sites as a Web user clicks along -- but he said he has his eye out for the next big thing that will grab people's attention.

"Your Web site will find a way to monetize traffic one way or another," he said.