Man Who Created First Pop-Up Ads is Apologizing

While there’s a good chance you’ve never actually heard of Ethan Zuckerman, there’s an even better chance you’ve dealt with some of his online creations.  You see, Zuckerman claims to be the individual who created the first internet pop-up ad. You remember pop-up ads, right? Those annoying little boxes that would randomly pop-up when you’d try and read a webpage? You know, the little boxes that made you want to get out the bat and go for a home run with your monitor? Pop-up ads. What a wonderful thing to be known for.

Zuckerman claims he was working for Tripod when he designed code for ads that would pop up on their own – and the rest, as they say, is history. While his creation was annoyingly successful, he now apparently regrets it just a little bit, and has apologized in an online essay, stating that the intentions were good.

He also states he was trying to come up with a way for anyone to be heard across the world when he first designed the code. I definitely think that goal was met.

Now, thankfully, your internet browser blocks most (if not all) pop-up ads so we don’t have to worry about them anymore. Do you remember having to constantly click out of pop-ups? Let us know your thoughts regarding this story in the comments section below!

[Image via pcworld]

SOURCE: Techspot