a note to some ads: roll over and die

Complaining about annoying aspects of the Internet seems basically irrelevant, considering that the Internet by nature includes several annoying features, from the way it brings out the cruel, critical sides of people who post comments or messages on boards to the existence of spam and pop-up ads. Still, just because something's common doesn't mean it's acceptable.

For example, rollover ads. Sometimes online ads can be sort of cool, like when an animated character just appears on the screen, unconfined by recognizable ad-sized boxes. But those neat ads are still annoying. And rollover ads are always annoying, even when they're encouraging you to learn about something you like — a particular TV show like "Eureka," for example, or some new movie out on DVD. The ads are, logically, placed at the top and/or right of the Web page, so you're more likely to accidentally roll over them with your mouse as you navigate from page to page or from top to bottom.

A note to advertisers, though, and the people who allow these advertisements to appear on their pages: The ads are ALWAYS annoying. When a person rolls over them accidentally and they slide down or sideways to cover the text or photos the person wants to read/see, that person might just hold it against the product being advertised, or even the site that allows the obtrusive ad to annoy its readers. Sites that often feature such ads may turn some people off for good, particularly when the ads are the sort that don't automatically roll back into place when you move your mouse away from them (and you have to click the little "x" to close them, as if you chose to open them in the first place). Ads should not distract from the website experience, unless a person legitimately chooses to be distracted.