I absolutely can’t stand most online advertising but I can relate to this article. I installed the Google toolbar which blocks all pop-ups and pop-unders. It works very nice and I love the other features as well. But without pop-unders, I feel that I’m missing out on the Orbitz ads. But now I have a link to oversized versions so I can still play when I choose to.

Creative Director Mark Rattin of Otherwise Inc. makes some intelligent comments:

So I did some Googling to find out more about Markieboy. Found some interesting metrics about the Orbitz ads and a weblog from Matthew Mercer, a designer who worked on the Orbitz ads. But I also found out that they’re responsible for the invention of the over-the-top intrusive “kick through” ads (where a rollover is enough to open up the website). And Mark defends the strategy as well. To bad, thumbs down for Mark after all.