A new type of ad inspired by the tactics of Iraqi insurgents has garnered an ever-increasing number of clickthroughs. The ads, inaccurately termed "suicide pop-ups" by industry insiders, work by first opening a spread of several pop-up and pop-under ads when a page containing them is opened. Users typically know to expect such ads, however, and will close them quickly and commence reading the content- (and inline ad-) filled page they had requested. However, after about 15 to 30 seconds, a SECOND spread of pop-ups and pop-unders will appear, taking users unaware as they idly click on the page or attempt to follow a link.
According to the website of a small advertising placement company claiming affiliation with DoubleClick, the ads were inspired by the now commonly used tactic used by Iraqi insurgents where a secondary bomb is planted at a blast site. Such secondary bombs are often timed for 15 to 30 minutes after the initial blast to target police and emergency personnel responding to the first blast. Exact statistics have not been made public, but the web site reports a clickthrough rate increase of about 300%.
It is unknown whether any clickthroughs have succeeded in topping the 0.1% "buy" response rate for products such as inexpensive male enhancement prescription drugs, free iPods, or low mortgage rates. Web user support organizations have issued calls for increased pop-up protection in web browser programs to protect users from intrusive ads.
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