What happens when I click "Close" on a popup?

[ChrisGreaves]

Most common examples are found in (1) YouTube videos (the horizontal ad that floats up in the lower 10% of the movie clip) or in online newspapers (the large ad that "floats" over the newspaper article).
In both cases i click on the little close-x, top-right corner of the window and mutter an incantation.

Is it possible for these pop-up ads to detect that i clicked "Close" and store that away?
My level of paranoia here is equal to that when i click "Do not send" or "unsubscribe" on a spam email, or pick up the phone on a telemarketing call - that merely tells the sender that there is a live body here who will respond.

Am I sending a message to the ad people when I actively spurn the ad, or decline to take part in the survey?
How do these things work?

[HansV]

No doubt, you're sending back your social security number, marital status, credit card number and favorite coffee blend each time you click.
But there's nothing to worry about - they already knew all of that...

[Cah]

If you get a pop-up how do you know the whole thing isn't a fake? If it's a fake then pressing anything could trigger anything. I use No-script and ad-block with Firefox to avoid pop-ups. If I ever see a pop I'll cut the internet connection and kill the tab or even firefox via task manager. If I'm feeling really paranoid I might even do a system restore using a disk image. I really don't like pop-ups!

[ChrisGreaves]

If you get a pop-up how do you know the whole thing isn't a fake?

Hi cah.
I understand paranoia; I invented it, but "How do these things work?" is the question.
Do you have an idea as to what happens when you click on a 'close" button on a genuine advertisement, such as appears in the lower portion of a YouTube video?

[viking33]

Chris,
----------------------------
Do you have an idea as to what happens when you click on a 'close" button on a genuine advertisement, such as appears in the lower portion of a YouTube video?
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I assume it closes that particular screen????

[agibsonsw]

My 'Hide Elements' bookmarklet may help:

Code: Select all

javascript:(function(){var%20d=document,useMine=true,prevEl;function%20AddHandler(orig,mine)
{return%20function(e){if(useMine)mine(e);else%20if(orig)orig(e);};}
function%20Myonmouseover(e){var%20evt=e||window.event;var%20elem=evt.target||evt.srcElement;
elem.style.outline='2px%20solid%20gray';prevEl=elem;}
function%20Myonmouseout(e){var%20evt=e||window.event;var%20elem=evt.target||evt.srcElement;
elem.style.outline='';}function%20Myonclick(e)
{var%20evt=e||window.event;var%20elem=evt.target||evt.srcElement;elem.style.display='none';}
function%20Myonkeydown(e){var%20evt=e||window.event;
if(evt.keyCode==27){prevEl.style.outline='';useMine=false;}}
d.onmouseover=AddHandler(d.onmouseover,Myonmouseover);
d.onmouseout=AddHandler(d.onmouseout,Myonmouseout);
d.onclick=AddHandler(d.onclick,Myonclick);d.onkeydown=AddHandler(d.onkeydown,Myonkeydown);})()

(remove the linebreaks before pasting it as the Property/Location for a Bookmark)

I haven't yet tried it with a pop-up, but assuming the pop-up is still a page-element (iframe, div) it might work.

Instruction: Click this Bookmark on the Bookmarks toolbar. As you move the mouse over the page it outlines elements on a page that you can click on to hide. Press Escape when you've finished hiding.

I can't remember (it was a while ago) but I believe it should override the element's click event; yeah, I'm pretty sure

[agibsonsw]

Oops, it doesn't (always) disable the Click event, so not currently suitable for your purpose, sorry!

I think it should be possible to disable the default click event, but I haven't played with JS for a little while now..