Consumers fall out of favour with pop-up marketing

Digital marketers have been urged to develop an alternative to pop-up marketing, which is becoming an increasing burden for internet browsers.

In a survey by Howto.tv, 73 per cent of consumers said they have been forced to leave a website because of intrusive pop-up advertising.

This rises to 84 per cent among 25-34-year-olds, more than two-thirds of which claim that it has put them off ever going back to the website again.

Peter Mitchell, of WWAV Rapp Collins Media Group, suggests that there needs to be an industry rethink on how online marketing is delivered to consumers.

“The industry must re-examine what the web does best and create content that is relevant and entertaining,” he explained.

Meanwhile, online subscription company Micro Billing Systems was given undertakings by the Office of Fair Trading earlier this year following complaints that it had bombarded website subscribers with pop-up notices demanding payments whenever a computer was switched on.