Top Ten Most Annoying Internet Things of 2010

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 08:36:00 AM EST
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Top ten lists for 2010 are beginning to appear. I'm doing a list of the top ten most annoying things on the internet -- things that are so annoying they are worthy of boycotting the offending sites.

1. News sites that automatically play videos with sound when you click on them. ABC News, are you listening? I won't even click on your news articles anymore. Sound should be an option you click on, it should not play automatically.In addition to people like me who find it an offensive intrusion into my consciousness, there are millions of people who read at work and don't want other people knowing. Sound prevents that by alerting any nearby co-workers and bosses that they're not working.

2. Videos from media sites and even You Tube that make you watch an ad before you get to the video clip. Put the ad on the side, or underneath, but don't force us to watch commercials. Vevo, are you listening? Not only won't I watch, I won't link to you or embed your videos. Five second ads are bad enough, but some sites now make you watch 30 second ads. I click off as soon as I see how long the ad is, and I don't return to the site. [More...]

3. News sites that put pop-up ads over portions of the article you click on so that you have to search for the "x" to close it. I will search google until I find the story elsehwhere to link to. Denver Post, are you listening?

To be continued until I reach 10. Feel free to add what you find most annoying in comments.

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Top Ten Most Annoying Internet Things of 2010 | 43 comments (43 topical)

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Here are a few that grate on my nerves: (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by Anne on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 09:52:25 AM EST

I hate it when you get deluged with e-mails from a company or organization you've bought something from or contributed to, and when you try to "un-subscribe," it doesn't actually work until you have received - and tried to unsubscribe from - many, many more e-mails.

And what is the deal with magazines that want you to renew almost as soon as you subscribe?

Finally, I annoy myself sometimes - either because I think it should be easier to get the info I need, or it should be faster, or the results shouldn't include websites that no longer exist. The internet has made us all more impatient than we probably have a right to be!

Yes! (none / 0) (#15)
by jbindc on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:26:43 AM EST

The magazine subscriptions are most annoying - especially when you renew for multi-years and within a few months they keep sending you stuff to renew! I started keeping my reciepts with the renewal date written on it.

Also, I'm going to pare down my subscriptions because I find I don't have time to read them anyway.


I'm pretty sure Food Network (none / 0) (#25)
by Anne on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:24:21 AM EST

magazine will continue to be sent long after I'm dead... :-)

At that point, it might be the most valuable asset of my estate...


Well (5.00 / 1) (#27)
by jbindc on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:37:55 AM EST

Then you should have fabulous food at your wake - their will be no excuse!


: "there" (none / 0) (#28)
by jbindc on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:38:16 AM EST

apparently my grammar skills are on vacation this week.

It should be a crime to make "e-mail (none / 0) (#30)
by oculus on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:06:20 PM EST

address" a "required" field when purchasing a ticket or making a donation on line. Then again, a couple times I received notice of cancelled events for which I had a ticket. And, in the case of buying ticket by phone, I didn't get the word 'til I showed up. And in Brooklyn, of all places!!!!


Ads for TV shows at movie (5.00 / 3) (#16)
by oculus on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:34:18 AM EST

theaters!

Regarding Item #3... (5.00 / 4) (#18)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:49:01 AM EST

the worst pop-ups are the ones that scroll with you, never letting you find the x to close...probably related to my outdated browser issues. Control Alt Delete time.

I don't think it's related to your browers issues (none / 0) (#22)
by sj on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:16:28 AM EST

Those really are a pain.


: I don't have a degree... (5.00 / 1) (#24)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:20:57 AM EST

in marketing or advertising or the like, but I would think such marketing/advertising just turns the consumer off to whatever it is you're trying to sell...I see your brand name on one of those hellish pop-ups, your brand name is Mudd.

Or the ones (none / 0) (#32)
by smott on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:26:13 PM EST

...that "walk" across the page left to right forcing you to try to nail the moving 'X'.

All of these will make me take note of the brand/advertiser and NEVER buy a thing from them. EV.ER.


I think that they (none / 0) (#34)
by Zorba on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:35:22 PM EST

are in the "any publicity is good publicity" school of thought. I suspect many people may vaguely remember having heard of Brand X, don't know why they remember it, and wind up buying it. I'm like you, though. If I get annoyed enough by a brand, I write it down and never buy it again. We may not be in the majority, though, because if enough people did this, the companies would stop using these annoying tactics. They do it because it must work for them.


I'm not so sure... (none / 0) (#41)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 01:51:35 PM EST

the advertising wizards know what works and what doesn't...lots of reasons for sales to be up or down that have nothing to do with marketing/advertising.

I wouldn't be surprised if companies do it out of blind allegiance to the "any publicity is good publicity" school of thought, and then are left scrambling to figure out why sales are down...one thing I've learned working with large corporate bueracracies is they do things for no other reason than "that's how we've always done it", or some bigshot's brother-in-law owns a marketing firm and needs a contract:)


: It's not just (5.00 / 1) (#43)
by Zorba on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 02:13:33 PM EST

the corporate bureaucracies that do things because "that's how we've always done it," Dog. Governmental bureaucracies do it, too. Unfortunately. And when they do change things, it's often for the worse, and an unthinking over-reaction to something that has happened in the past. Just ask any current airline passenger........

#1 even without sound is annoying (5.00 / 1) (#29)
by ruffian on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:58:52 AM EST

If I want to play a video on your site I'll click it, thank you very much. I guess TV news sites assume you want to watch something, not read. I watch very few videos, even at home, much less at work. and stopping video transfer once it has started is slow and annoying.

Overall I am also annoyed that web developers have used up whatever speed increases we have had in the last few years. Seems like many sites are almost as slow as dial-up days just because they got too fancy with the graphics and video.

Web page Bloat. (5.00 / 2) (#39)
by EL seattle on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 01:25:32 PM EST

I really appreciate websites like TalkLeft that don't overload every page with every new video and widget and Flash ad app and gizmo that's available.

Even if viewers aren't limited to 56k internet speeds (and there are some of them still out there), bandwidth speed can still fluctuate severely from time to time. Sometimes web viewers ever have to wait for a minute or two while their browser downloads the last bit of page data before it comes out of a 'thinking mode' seizure. I think that this is a very bad thing.

Agree (none / 0) (#1)
by Ray Radlein on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 01:26:31 AM EST

Amen, amen, and amen.

And how ironic is THAT.? (none / 0) (#4)
by EL seattle on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:03:46 AM EST

One of the Top-3 complaints for me would be the way spambots seem to be getting better at targeting their messages, and coming up with spoofed e-mail addresses that aren't instantly recognizable as invalid.

agree and I spend (none / 0) (#5)
by Jeralyn on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:07:46 AM EST

15 to 30 minutes a night weeding them out. They are almost all from India, Pakistan, and the Philappines.


: I get the same thing, (none / 0) (#6)
by Edger on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 03:16:28 AM EST

but mostly from Russian and eastern Europe and Ukraine, etc.
I have antispam software installed on my site that "learns" and deletes comments and blog posts immediately as they are posted if they contain any matches to url filters and custom filters. Does scoop have any add-in modules that do something similar?

Youtube commercials... (none / 0) (#7)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 08:17:03 AM EST

are a mild annoyance, but considering all the content you get for free, I can deal.

The constant reminders to upgrade my browser drive me nuts...my home pc running Windows '76 can't handle an upgrade, and I can't even access sites that are full of newfangled bells and whistles anymore. I guess thats my main internet gripe...dumb your sites down if you want traffic from quasi-luddites with pc's running on fumes:)

Windows '76?! (none / 0) (#8)
by Peter G on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 08:59:11 AM EST

wow. Is that 1776? I'm very happy with XP (and Word 2003, when I have to use Word) and sticking with it/them as long as possible.


: I exaggerate... (none / 0) (#9)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 09:28:49 AM EST

in truth I think its Windows 2000 on an old HP...disk drive is shot, makes funny noises, but I can still get on the net, and runs pretty good on sites that don't feed me the updated browser spiel.

: XP is the last windows (none / 0) (#14)
by Coral on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:00:49 AM EST

operating system that is usable for me. For anything newer, I'm on a Mac.
I, too, hate ads on the Internet. Also I hate sites with music that automatically plays.

love item 2 for its unabashed honesty (none / 0) (#10)
by The Addams Family on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 09:32:03 AM EST

: oops, meant item 1 (none / 0) (#11)
by The Addams Family on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 09:32:33 AM EST

I suspect (none / 0) (#13)
by me only on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 09:58:59 AM EST

they are not listening...

During the holidays, I really hate... (none / 0) (#17)
by Dadler on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:45:41 AM EST

...when all the free elf porn and pony-play videos stream too slowly. Prurience requires constant upgrades and reliable connections speeds.

Seriously, ahem, I simultaneously hate and love spam email that tries to use a reasonably familiar names to try to fool you into opening it. "Oh, wow, I think I know a guy named Horace Abromowitz. Maybe he moved to Belarus and didn't tell me."

No joke... (none / 0) (#20)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:56:27 AM EST

some of them email spammers do almost fool ya, they're slowly getting better at whatever it is they do.

And how 'bout phony anti-virus updates? A couple people here at my job have gooten fooled, and off their pc's went to the computer shop to be cleansed.


I'm still amused by the persistence... (none / 0) (#23)
by Dadler on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:18:10 AM EST

...of those Nigerian or other African "officials" gratefully attempting to gain your assistance in receiving funds from abroad, for which you will be handsomely rewarded.

Getting killed at the online poker table, taking bad beat after bad beat. Yesterday, I worked a guy perfectly, had trip fives on the flop, hit a boat on the turn, and he's raising the whole way. I know he has a big pocket pair, queens or better, so after he bets the turn, I reraise him big, then he pushes, and I call all in. Just as I thought, he turns over queens. I have him dominated. I'm going to more than double up and move into the top twenty in the tourney. Then the river hits. Queen. Boom, bust, bye bye. Way it goes, but it ain't fun. Then again, it's still all free money, so who am I to complain.

And the memoir blog is fresh and ugly.

Peace, dog.


: All rushes must pass... (none / 0) (#26)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 11:27:51 AM EST

speaking of internet annoyances...one-outers on the river! Always easier to stomach when using actual cards for some reason, or is it just me?
Hang in there till ya get hot again...and don't chase.

I'm with Anne (none / 0) (#19)
by CST on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:55:37 AM EST

email spam from things I've signed up for or donated to in the past.

Just because I once bought something from you does not mean I need to hear from you EVERY week with some new deal or asking for my money when I'm STILL PAYING FOR YOU (ahem college...)

If I had to pick a #1 pet peeve it's colleges non-stop emails asking for donations within the first 5-10 years of graduation.

In yesterday's TMQ on ESPN.... (none / 0) (#21)
by kdog on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 10:59:50 AM EST

a reader wrote in to report that their university started the alumni donation requests via email...before they graduated!


: Well, that's certainly being optimistic (none / 0) (#35)
by Zorba on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:37:44 PM EST

on the university's part. These kids don't even have jobs yet! And probably owe thousands in student loan debt!

I use an entirely separate (none / 0) (#33)
by Zorba on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:30:29 PM EST

email address for things I buy on-line, store discount cards, and other commercial and charitable transactions, so that their solicitations don't clog up my "friends and family" email. Yes, I still get a lot in the "commercial-only" email, but I don't even check it every day, so it doesn't bug me as much.


I used to... (none / 0) (#36)
by CST on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:43:08 PM EST

But it started creeping over. I think I was sick of checking the other email for important stuff like tickets or whatever. Plus I already have a "work" email, a "home" email, and a "professional home" email. The extra "spam" email seemed excessive, so I only use it now for things I will never check.

The school stuff you can't really help. I gave them my "professional home" email so they could forward whatever was still coming to my school address for a while.


That's a lot (none / 0) (#37)
by Zorba on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:46:22 PM EST

of email addresses- I can see why you really don't want to deal with another, CST. I only have the two, so it's not that big a deal for me.


It happens (none / 0) (#38)
by CST on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:50:54 PM EST

The email you give out as a 12 year old to your friends based on your AIM name just doesn't fly as well later in life for things like resumes, etc..., but its the one everyone already has :)

Stupid technology.


: LOL! (none / 0) (#40)
by Zorba on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 01:30:29 PM EST

Well, I'm over 60, so there was no email to give out when I was 12! By the time we got a computer and I started to email, I was already middle-aged, so cutesy names weren't a problem. And I don't do text messaging, or follow Twitter, and rarely use my cell phone, either, so I guess that makes me a partial Luddite. ;-)

A work-around for item #2 (none / 0) (#31)
by lawyerjim on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 12:09:41 PM EST

Use Mozilla Firefox and download the add-on Adblock Plus. It skips past ads on youtube and most other sites.

Rollover ads that are impossible not to rollover (none / 0) (#42)
by magster on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 01:53:36 PM EST

annoy me. (Ahem, again, Denver Post)

And another thing. I never signed up (none / 0) (#44)
by oculus on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 02:39:46 PM EST

for Daily Kos action alert e-mails, get them constantly, and haven't succeeded in "unsubscribing." Really irritating.

: Oh, yeah! (none / 0) (#45)
by sj on Wed Dec 29, 2010 at 04:08:51 PM EST

I am directed there an average of maybe once a month, and I never go there on my own. But I'm getting them also.