Top9.com - News - August 28, 2000

FAIRFAX, VA

A listing of dubious web sites that automatically launch annoying pop-up windows has just been released by the search and ranking directory TOP9.com.

Some of the most recognizable sites using pop-up windows include aol.com, netscape.com, iwon.com, real.com, msnbc.com, time.com, att.net, pbs.org and sprint.com.

"More and more web sites are promulgating different tricks on unsuspecting surfers, and we hope our unique listings will provide some warning to assist in easy web use," said TOP9.com President Dan Bohan. "Given the extraordinary response we received to our previous listing of 'lock-in' sites, we are convinced that the surfing public wants this kind of information. We also list several strategies to avoid or outsmart these types of sites."

TOP9.com is a search and ranking directory featuring the top nine web sites in nearly 300 categories. Sites using "pop-up" windows or sites that "lock in" surfers are denoted with special icons.

"This is the third component of our quality assurance program, which is part of the TOP9.com mission of safe and easy surfing," added Bohan. The other components of the program are 1) lock-in designations, a listing of sites that "lock" surfers in by not allowing browser 'back' buttons to function properly, and 2) weekly search engine comparisons, which compare and contrast search results from the major search engines with results based on actual consumer preferences.

Along with 'pop-up' icons appearing within the individual 'Top 9' category listings, a single page pulls together the nearly 150 pop-up sites that appear among the TOP9.com rankings. Another page lists the roughly 80 lock-in sites. The sites are among the top 10,000 most popular sites on the web, according to objective consumer preferences provided by internet research firm PC Data. Linked to the respective listings are several useful strategies to help surfers avoid or mitigate the effects of pop-ups or lock-ins.

TOP9.com is a business venture of Omega World Travel (www.owt.net), which has signed a five-year agreement with PC Data (www.pcdataonline.com) for exclusive rights to consumer research intelligence for TOP9.com. PC Data surveys the largest panel of any internet measurement firm. Because of the size of the survey pool, and the independent methodology used by PC Data, TOP9.com's rankings are based on the most reliable internet consumer research data available today.

Information on the pop-up windows is found at http://www.top9.com/popups/index.html. Information on the lock-in sites is found at http://www.top9.com/lockin.html. Search engine comparisons are found at http://www.top9.com/compare/index.html.