There are a number of ad-blocking software alternatives available in market today, both free and paid for. Among free software that was tested and has proved to be fairly effective are 12Ghosts Popup-Killer and 12Ghosts StopMessengerAds. Also, shareware such as STOPzilla!, ABF Internet Explorer Tools, AdBeGone PopUp Killer and CoffeeCup PopUp Blocker have received some good critiques. Free pop-up blockers, such as STOPzilla and Panicware, are readily available for download. Both Google and Yahoo toolbars include ability to block pop-ups. That capacity is also enabled by default in Microsoft's XP Service Pack Two (SP2) settings for Internet Explorer. Most ad-blocking programs work as specialized proxy servers. Once running on your PC, they examine addresses that your browser requests, check each one against entries in a frequently updated database of ad server addresses, and then drop requests for ad content. Some also rely on pattern matching to look for windows and images that match known sizes and shapes of ads. Leaving inconvenience aside, there are other good reasons to fight back. For example, blocking ads frees up precious bandwidth and can protect your privacy. Ads take time to load, and they invariably get in way of what you are really interested in while surfing on Internet. Because many ad servers place cookies on your computer, ad companies are able to track your surfing. These companies claim that function of most cookies they set is to regulate type and amount of advertisements you receive. But because larger ad services span a wide array of web sites, ad-related cookies can also provide ad companies a lot of insight into your web surfing preferences. And this is a critical issue since you, as most of us consumers, have never explicitly consented to be followed on web. If you want to learn more about your privacy rights, visit www.Anti-Spam-League.org website. This organization has a lot of valuable information on privacy, spam, identity theft and other common Internet abuses. Become a free member by visiting www.Anti-Spam-League.org. Finally, there is debate regarding whether using ad-supported web sites is giving implicit obligation to tolerate and support online ads. Logically, advertisers think that implicit contract seems to be acceptable to most users and web sites because without advertisements, Internet as we know it would vanish really fast. However, consumers think differently. In end, people have a right to control what appears on their computer.

Advertisers use these intrusive techniques simply because they are effective. Sad but true. Some of most intrusive ads have unfortunate effect of quickly catching customers’ attention and as a result, pop-up blocking software is getting more and more popular these days. Even Microsoft announced in end of 2003 that new Internet Explorer will include popup ad blocker. Naturally, it is foreseeable that popup advertisers are likely to start developing software to bypass it. In April of 2004 Falk eSolutions AG, a global provider of ad delivery and management solutions, launched a new ad targeting option to automatically detect pop-up blocker software on users’ computers and instantly convert pop-up and pop-under inventory to alternate formats for optimal delivery to those users. Our belief is that as new popup-blocking software comes out, more aggressive pop-up display methods are likely to emerge to bypass defense. As a final thought, no anti-ad utility works flawlessly; but without ads, you would not be annoyed so frequently with undesired commercial messages, and pages would definitely load faster!

If you want to learn more about this and other related topics, check out www.Anti-Spam-League.org. This organization offers free membership and chance to access a wide amount of relevant information on privacy, spam, email abuse, Internet fraud, responsible marketing and several other topics.

I'll just go ahead and blurt this one out because I know it's on your mind: Don't worry about being an expert writer. Don't shy away from writing ezine articles because you think you might misplace a few commas, semicolons or dashes. This is Internet, not Oxford Journal of Medicine. You're not trying to win a Pulitzer Prize. Just write your article best you can, re-read it several times, run spellcheck, and then go from there. I also recommend waiting at least half a day and then coming back and re-reading your article. This allows your brain to basically re-boot and you may find some errors you overlooked before. But don't stress; You should see some of typos I have made.

I'm not going to bombard you with everything there is to know about ezine article writing today. This article was designed to just wet your whistle a little bit. To get you in mood so to speak. To get you wanting to write and to give you ideas on what to write about. I assure you there will be other article in future that touch on all other aspects of ezine article writing. For now, though, I'll leave you to your writing, me, I've suddenly got a taste for some chocolate brownies...