Pop-up ads are almost as annoying as telemarketers.

Although our phone has been on the Do-Not-Call list in Indiana for several years, we still get several of them each week. I usually report them to the state Attorney General's office, and occasionally I get feedback that one has been fined for ignoring the law. Two weeks ago one gentleman called three times in two days wanting to verify information for my yellow page advertisement (which I do not have). I hung up on him the first two times. The third time he called I spoke very nicely to him and explained that I was an information center and would need his credit card number so I could properly bill him for the information he was requesting. At first he was confused, then he got angry, but I haven't heard back from him.

Almost as annoying as telemarketers are the pop-up ads that many bloggers insert into their blogs. I read several blogs each day, and many of them have these pop-up ads. Not only must I delete them before I can read the article, most of them are advertising something that is already being advertised in the side bar or elsewhere in the blog.

I don't mind people advertising their products in their blogs. You'll find ads for the books I've written in the side bar of this blog as well as other paid advertising. However, you do not find, nor will you ever find, me insulting my readers by using pop-up ads that prevent you from reading the post until you delete the ad.

Some of the blogs I follow are marketing, business, and leadership blogs, and I can understand (to a degree) them using every marketing tool at their disposal. However, most of my pop-ups are found in the ministry blogs I read. Seriously? Someone is interested enough in your ministry to follow your blog so why would you feel it necessary to insult him or her by popping an ad up on the screen as they try to read your post?

There are many ways to monetize a blog without frustrating your readers with pop-up ads. I'm sure these ads generate revenue for bloggers who have a large following, but for most of us they are just an annoyance that we have to address before we can get to the information we are seeking. I've removed more than one blog from my reading list due to the overuse of pop-up ads and more are about to be eliminated. Bloggers really should look at whether the revenue they generate is worth the loss of readers.