McDonald's The Latest To Try Browser Hijacking Ads
from the seems-annoying dept
As consumer facing companies look for newer and more invasive ways to advertise their products, apparently a new trick is to hijack the user's browser and turn it into a giant ad. This seems particularly annoying -- though, thankfully, it doesn't work on Firefox. The latest to try this is McDonald's, but apparently others have been using this trick. The article is a little vague on the details, but you could visit a random site, and suddenly the look of the browser itself will change to become a big advertisement for whatever company. It appears that advertisers really don't get that annoying the hell out of users doesn't do them much good in getting people to think positively about the brand. It appears this follows the slow death of pop-ups and the annoying trend to use floating ads over pages. Still, you have to wonder why Microsoft lets websites arbitrarily change the look and feel of a user's browser without their permission.
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Legacy of their web designers strategy
But it remains amazing why companies think one obnoxious advertising strategy will be more welcome than another. Hey, if this helps convert another 10% of the user base away from IE, great!
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No Subject Given
Why?....
Because of money.
Users' money, to be specific.
Money that MS, developers, and advertisers can then control.
Letting users buy their own hardware allows them to believe they actually own it.
Just like a $28,000 dollar vehicle with $24,000 owing for the next 3 years that is already depreciated down to $21,000.
In truth, the business interests increasingly own the users.
That's why.
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