AOL Stops Pop-Ups

America Online has introduced controls that will allow its users to eliminate pop-up ads while surfing the Web, in respose to user demands and in order to strengthen the company's place in the market.

The new controls, announced Wednesday, allow users of AOL 8.0 to choose--by clicking an icon in their browser window--whether to allow pop-ups. The controls also allow users to see which sites have attempted to send them pop-up ads and to keep a running tally of the number of pop-ups blocked in each online session.

"This was released because our users said they wanted it," said AOL spokesperson Andrew Weinstein.

Tough Competition

Indeed, AOL has been working hard to appease users lately at it faces mounting competition and slowed subscriber growth. Rival EarthLink recently announced that it was blocking pop-ups.

Weinstein called AOL's pop-up controls more "nuanced" than some competitors', given that users can choose whether they want to accept pop-ups from some sites. In addition, it allows pop-ups from secure sites, which often have them as a function of their e-commerce check-outs, Weinstein said.

AOL said that it plans to deliver the controls to members automatically over the next two weeks, or they can get them immediately via download by typing in "Pop-Up Controls" under AOL Keyword.

The Dulles, Virginia, ISP said last October when it launched AOL 8.0 that it would no longer accept third-party pop-up ads. The move this week continues that effort, the company said, as well as furthering a campaign to respond to users' top complaints.

Last month, the ISP said that it was stepping up its efforts to fight spam, another top concern of its members; AOL membership now exceeds 35 million.