Ding-Dong, the Wicked Pop-Under Company Is Dead

E-Commerce Times ^ | October 29, 2003 | Keith Regan

[Nick Danger]

The message inherent in X10's collapse is clear: You can lure all the people you want to your Web site, via whatever sleazy means you can invent, but there is no guarantee that you will sell enough spy cameras to turn a profit or even survive.

X10. Just the company name is enough to send some Internet users into convulsions.

The firm was, for all intents and purposes, the first major user of the dreaded pop-under ad, which, at the time it was introduced, easily ranked as the most obnoxious and intrusive form of online advertising ever invented.

The good news is that X10 has gone bankrupt. If that's not cause for rejoicing, I don't know what is. Of course, there are few clear-cut bad guys in the technology world. X10, for example, was no doubt staffed by professional, well-intentioned people who truly thought that if they could just convince enough people to buy their spy cameras and wireless transmitters, the world would be a better place.

But X10 polluted the Web. There's no other way to say it. Just as CyberRebate.com gave Internet commerce a black eye -- albeit one it got over in the blink of that blackened eye -- X10 made online advertising icky and annoying.

Everyone understood why the pop-under had to be invented and why it lives on today, though it is used much more sparingly. We'd all learned to ignore banner ads. Something had to grab us by the lapels and make us pay attention.

[Nick Danger]

Bwaaaaa HA HA

[Brett66]

Rest in pieces, I wish I could have my own personal nuclear missile for those evil little twerps that created browser hijackers,spyware etc.

I've been using Mozilla for about a month now, I think I'm going to remove that infected piece of junk IE from my system.

[since1868]

I have the Google task bar it stops all pop ups. Without anything annoying happenings and it is of course free.

[Capt. Canuck]

I hated their pop under adds, but they did not some neat stuff (not the spy cameras, other things)

[diotima]

Yippee!!!!

[Brett66]

I have the google pop-stopper and it's great. My IE has been infected by an insidious browser hijacker. I've run spybot, adware, installed a browser hijacker stopper, nothing works. Mozilla Firebird is working great, I think the only way to kill the hijacker is to completely remove IE and start over.

[Egon]

Hated their ads. But liked their lightswitches, lamp modules, etc. Only problem was that the switches were built in China and didn't carry near the loaded they were "rated" for.

[Brett66]

BTW, does anyone know if the imported list of IE favorites that's automatically imported into Mozilla upon installation will be erased when I uninstall IE?

[js1138]

I use the google tool bar on two of three computers I have access to. I find that a few pages never come up. Probably using pop up pages legitimately, but they are blocked anyway.

[Timesink]

X10, for example, was no doubt staffed by professional, well-intentioned people who truly thought that if they could just convince enough people to buy their spy cameras and wireless transmitters, the world would be a better place.

Uh huh. That must be why 90% of their pop-under ads featured young women in bikinis being ogled, with the clear message being "use our cameras to fulfill your voyeuristic sex fantasies!"

[Timesink]

I hated their pop under adds, but they did not some neat stuff (not the spy cameras, other things)

This is the same company that had been around for a couple of decades selling home-automation hardware, right?

[JoJo Gunn]

Since you've brought up the subject of scumware:


http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3101611

Gator Becomes Claria
By Pamela Parker
October 30, 2003


Controversial ad-supported software player Gator Corporation has changed
its name to Claria Corporation, in what it says is a bid to reflect its
broadened offerings. The move might also help Gator distance itself from
controversy.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Gator has recently worked to cozy up to the
Internet advertising industry. It's been successful in attracting big name
advertisers to its GAIN Network, which serves ads based on the Web sites
people visit. But it's been most well-known for its legal battles,
including disputes with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and major
publishers, along with companies like UPS and hotel chain operator Six
Continents.

The company says the name change is aimed at broadening the scope of its
brand. It launched in 1998 with an e-wallet software called Gator, but it
has since expanded to comprise three business units. GAIN Publishing
publishes, distributes and provides ad support for free software. The GAIN
Network delivers behaviorally-targeted online advertisements to more than
38 million consumers who have downloaded the software. Feedback Research
provides online research and analytics using data from the individuals
with software installed.

"Moving forward, Claria will continue to leverage its leadership position
in behavioral marketing and provide advertisers with a platform to
effectively communicate one-to-one with their target audiences, delivering
impressive ROI for online marketing campaigns," said Jeff McFadden,
president and CEO of Claria Corporation.

[Rubber_Duckie_27]

Those popunders were incredibly annoying.

However, I did order some extra lamp modules and a motion detector from them for my little home automation setup. Their X10 products are pretty decent.

[Octar]

Their marketing tactics stank, but the products are great. We own several cameras and some accessories and they perform as advertised and we enjoy using them.

[Rodney King]

The artcile (or at least the part excerpted) is pretty bad. X-10 sold lots of cameras. They are going out of business because they lost a large lawsuit by someone claiming patent infringement.

[smith288]

I have these products as well as their universal remote for dimming my house lights. They also have a computer component that will time lights and other products they sell.

[zeugma]

It's been so long since I've seen anything from them, that I didn't realize that X-10 was still in business.

I noticed upon reading this thread that a lot of people supported them which is why they lasted so long. I can't imagine any circumstance under which I'd buy anything of theirs. I guess people buy stuff from spammers too. I wish they didn't.

[white trash redneck]

I'm waiting for Undertone Network to bite the dust.

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

It shouldn't be erased when IE goes away since it's stored elsewhere. (usually in \windows\application data\Mozilla\profiles ...)
I routinely use 'export' in the tools menu to save extra copies, e.g. to a USB keychain. You could just export a copy elsewhere to assuage any paranoia. Every couple weeks I erase the older copies. I used to save Netscape's to a floppy but my bookmarks are about 2MB these days - lots of dead or outdated links I'll never get to again. I hate cleaning anything - you should see my desk (or garage! I just discovered a motorcycle I'd forgotten about).

[JerseyHighlander]

Your IE bookmarks, once imported from IE to Mozilla (or Firebird or Netscape) are saved in a text file in the Mozilla directory structure. They are safe, and will be there when you remove the IE disease from your system.