Each advertisement is as low as 1 cent and can provide up to 1 million reporter surveys in a single day
Pop-up ads have become annoying "psoriasis"
● Some pop-up advertisements still contain illegal information such as pornography, gambling, violence, and even suicide induction, which have become Internet "drug" windows that increase security risks and seriously affect the physical and mental health of young people
● Pop-up advertisements have formed a complete industry chain of interests. Each pop-up advertisement on PC is as low as 1 cent, and each pop-up advertisement on mobile is as low as 2 cents. A company can provide up to 1 million pop-ups in a single day. Advertising Services
● Improve relevant information filtering and shielding technology, build a more efficient and open supervision system, and strengthen information sharing and law enforcement cooperation among functional departments.
Encourage the whole society to actively participate in comprehensive network governance and create a clearer cyberspace
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Guo Jing, an intern of our newspaper
Recently, the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Committee released the "App Advertising Consumer Rights Protection Evaluation Report (2020)", stating that 58% of apps contain advertisements, and 69.7% of them do not have a “close button”.
Pop-up ads are like "psoriasis" in the online world. Whether you are watching news, video or online classes, lottery pop-ups, advertising pop-ups, and pornographic inducement links will pop up at any time.
A reporter from the Rule of Law Daily found that some pop-up advertisements still contained illegal information such as pornography, gambling, violence, and even suicide induction, which became an Internet "poisonous" window that increased security risks and seriously affected the physical and mental health of young people.
Moreover, pop-up advertising has formed a complete industry chain of interests.
Pop-up ads are everywhere
"Can't be turned off" makes people blocked
Beijing citizen Li Cheng (pseudonym) downloaded a decompression software on his laptop two days ago. After that, as long as he turned it on, he could see all kinds of pop-up advertisements.
Clicking the button every day to close the advertisement is not the main reason for Li Cheng's collapse. The key is that these pop-up advertisements have affected his daily work.
Once, Li Cheng went to report to the leader and turned on the laptop. There was a naked pornographic advertisement. He closed it while apologizing. After clicking the close sign, he suddenly switched to a game webpage and made a harsh game music. .
The leader was furious and asked Li Cheng to deal with these advertisements before coming to him.
According to Li Cheng, there are not many friends who are bothered by pop-up ads like him.
When a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily used a well-known search site, pop-up advertisements for pornographic games popped up from time to time. After clicking the close sign, the page was opened. Afterwards, even if the pop-up window was closed, the page would continue to pop up after refreshing the page.
In some online games, when buffering, the web page will pop up multiple explicit pornographic pop-ups.
In addition, a large number of gambling websites promoted through pop-up windows.
The reporter found that such pop-up ads are often difficult to close: some buttons are very hidden; some do not have a close option; some have multiple "false" close buttons to lure users to click to open the ad page; and some pop-up ads , Even if you set it to "Not interested in this type of advertising" or "Not push within a week", it will still pop up frequently.
Some consumers have complained to reporters. Some video sites claim that members enjoy "advertising privileges", "skip ads", and "ad-free" rights, but when you become a member, you will still see open-screen ads, banner ads, and pop-up ads. , Button ads, floating ads, pause page ads and other forms of advertising.
Tailored suspected infringement
It is not easy to protect rights with fuzzy subjects
A reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" found that the high frequency of pop-up windows, repeated failure to close, page jumps accidentally, and domineering screens are the reasons why consumers hate pop-up ads.
Some consumers have taken relevant measures to close pop-up ads, but the effect is not obvious.
For example, Li Gang (a pseudonym), a Beijing citizen who claimed to be a "technology flow", understood the operation behind the pop-up advertisement, and modified the relevant parameters and codes. The pop-up advertisement can be blocked in the early stage, but it will become invalid after a period of time.
Li Gang found that pop-up advertisements integrate the user's online traces and behavior analysis, while accurately pushing, while avoiding advertising behavior, it is difficult for users to distinguish and refuse.
"This is essentially a kind of technical bullying. Websites, browsers, virus software, and malicious plug-ins may all become the carriers of pop-up advertisements, allowing consumers to have rights protection ideas but unable to clarify the responsible party." Li Gang said.
Zhao Zhanzhu, a special researcher of the Intellectual Property Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that this tailor-made pop-up advertisement not only disturbs the people, but may also infringe. There are problems such as theft of user information and infringement of personal privacy.
In this regard, some lawyers said that Internet information is an important factor that affects consumers' self-awareness, and consumers have the right to choose when they browse online information.
The pop-up advertisements appear anytime and anywhere, destroying consumers' right to choose and invading consumers' private space.
Consumers have no way to predict and circumvent pop-up advertisements, so they will have a sense of being offended.
Consumers lack self-control over the entire interactive process and are in a weak position of passive acceptance.
Pop-up advertisements are like "uninvited guests", making consumers' rights in a state of uncertainty.
According to Article 44 of the Advertising Law, the use of the Internet to publish and send advertisements shall not affect the normal use of the Internet by users.
Advertisements published in the form of pop-ups on Internet pages should be marked with a close sign to ensure one-click close.
The "Interim Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising" that have been implemented since September 1, 2016 also have the same provisions, "You must not deceive users to click on advertising content" and "You may not attach advertisements or advertisements to emails sent by users without permission. link".
However, a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" learned that in the face of pop-up advertisements, most consumers choose to complain and do not resort to legal means. The main reason is that the cost of protecting rights is high, and the other is that they do not know who to complain.
Form a gray chain of benefit industries
Millions of items per day
A fact that cannot be ignored is that pop-up advertising has formed a complete industry chain of interests. Advertisers have demands and platforms have benefits. The two sides hit it off.
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" learned that each pop-up advertisement on the PC side is as low as 1 cent, and each pop-up advertisement on the mobile terminal is as low as 2 cents. A company can provide up to 1 million pop-up advertisement services in a single day.
A reporter searched on a search engine using "Internet pop-ups" as keywords. The first place in the search results was a marketing website for pop-up ads.
After entering the website, the slogan "Big data AI systemization and precision pop-ups, detonating the promotion trend" rushed toward you.
The reporter launched further investigation as an advertiser of health-care products.
The staff told reporters that every day four or five advertisers conduct pop-up advertising consultations. This form of promotion is risk-free and recognized.
“Pop-up ads on the PC side are as low as 1 cent each, and pop-up ads on the mobile side are as low as 2 cents each.” Xiaoya, a staff member of a pop-up advertising company, provided a service quotation to reporters. According to him, the market is common. So priced.
When the reporter mentioned what kind of qualification review needs to be conducted, Xiaoya replied: "We have internal review channels, which are generally acceptable."
As for what is an "internal channel", Xiaoya explained: "We all provide you with a "single account", and you do not need to provide qualifications." At the same time, he promised that he would not overturn the vehicle. Even if it rolls over, the "single account" company is implicated .
It is understood that "set of accounts" refers to companies that lack the qualifications or do not meet the requirements and cannot open accounts directly, and use accounts that have been opened by others in the same industry for promotion.
This is also the default "hidden rule" of the marketing and promotion industry.
"Usually this is the operation, and has not been found or punished." Xiaoya repeatedly explained in order to dispel the reporter's doubts.
Then introduced its company advantages, "We can achieve accurate data matching based on the keywords that netizens search on search engines and the web addresses of peers they have browsed."
Xiaoya also sent a screenshot of the background operation to reporters, indicating that the background can customize the age, industry, gender, and time of delivery according to customer needs, and customize the portrait of the ad receiving group.
According to previous reports from Xinhua News Agency, after receiving orders, such businesses will illegally collect and analyze online behavior data of Internet users through technical means, and grasp important information such as their age and gender to classify Internet users.
After that, merchants will set up appropriate label users according to the advertiser's requirements, track them when they are online, and place targeted advertisements to achieve "precise positioning" and real-time monitoring and analysis of delivery effects.
At the same time, businesses have technology to "force" users to watch or click on pop-up windows.
Profit-driven punishment is weak
Pop-up ads are repeatedly banned
Pop-up advertising is not a new issue, and the regulatory authorities have also done a lot of work.
As early as 2014, the State Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce held a special symposium on "Rectifying Internet Popups" and launched a special action to "Rectify Internet Popups".
However, pop-up advertisements still trouble consumers.
So, why do pop-up ads continue to be banned?
Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management of Communication University of China, analyzed that the illegal cost of pop-up advertising is low and the benefits are high.
Article 63 of the Advertising Law stipulates that the maximum fine for pop-up advertisements is 30,000 yuan.
The revenue from advertising is much higher.
"This kind of commercial behavior infringes the legitimate rights and interests of thousands of consumers, but it is impossible for thousands of consumers to join lawsuits to defend their rights, and the cost is too high, and a single violation of the law has little social harm and insufficient influence. Opposing power. In other words, the restrictive power is too small to form fear. This is one of the reasons why repeated prohibitions continue.” said Wang Sixin, deputy dean of the School of Political Science and Law, Communication University of China.
Earlier, Xinhua News Agency reported that a public security policeman who has been engaged in the investigation and handling of Internet pornography cases for many years said that the profitability of some websites is insufficient, and illegal businesses such as pornography and gambling are "getting money quickly." Profit point.
At the same time, a person in charge of a local industry and information department revealed that some local regulatory agencies currently have limited human and financial resources in the management of illegal pop-ups, causing some lawbreakers to fish in troubled waters and evade supervision.
In addition, in practice, there are also problems such as unclear law enforcement standards, lagging laws and regulations, and high cost of mobile terminal supervision.
User feedback helps supervision
Take multiple measures to eradicate chaos
A reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" noted that at the beginning of the 21st century, "harassing phone calls" were flying all over the sky, becoming the most troublesome problem for mobile phone users at that time, but this problem has been effectively resolved.
The most effective way is for mobile phone operators to provide consumers with the option of "marking this number as a harassing call". User restrictions allow the spread of harassing calls and spam messages to be effectively controlled.
Google Chrome has begun to try similar measures, setting "not interested" and "no longer pop-up" options for users when closing ads.
"User feedback helps improve the regulatory system, and multi-party interaction forms a long-term mechanism." Wang Sixin believes that this may be a useful method.
Industry insiders suggest that relevant information filtering and shielding technologies should be improved, a more efficient and open supervision system should be built, and information sharing and law enforcement cooperation between functional departments should be strengthened.
Encourage the whole society to actively participate in comprehensive network governance and create a clearer cyberspace.
However, Zhao occupied a negative attitude when it comes to industry autonomy.
He believes that pop-up advertising has formed a complete profit chain and is an important source of profit for many Internet companies and advertising companies. It is of little significance to simply promote industry autonomy, and it is more effective to use the system to force the industry to develop healthily.
At the same time, Zheng Ning is concerned that the Advertising Law and the "Interim Provisions on Internet Advertising Management" only impose penalties on advertisers, and do not directly stipulate the obligations and responsibilities of advertisers. "Platforms should perform their social responsibilities through service Agreements etc. guide businesses to operate legally and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. For violations of the service agreement, relevant measures can be taken as agreed, and consumers are encouraged to report violations to the regulatory authorities.”
Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of the China Academy of Information Security, suggested that to eradicate “poison” pop-ups, we can consider combining the current legislation and law enforcement work on personal information protection, and formulate regulations specifically for regulating pop-up advertising operations, and specifically targeting pop-up methods and safety. Standards, operating boundaries and other specific behaviors are regulated and handled.
But Zheng Ning believes that law enforcement at the government level is more important.
She suggested: First, to blacklist serious violations and multiple violations, and to adopt credit supervision methods is more effective than simple punishment; second, multiple departments jointly carry out special enforcement actions and publish typical cases.
However, some experts and scholars have a positive attitude towards pop-up advertisements.
They believe that pop-up advertising is a normal business model in the Internet industry, and this business model itself is not illegal.
A “one size fits all” approach should not be adopted. As long as advertisers and platforms comply with relevant regulations, they can play their positive value.
The legal department, law enforcement department, and platform themselves have a long way to go to control the chaos of pop-up advertisements.
"The network ecology is complex and under development. There are many uncontrollable factors. Illegal and unhealthy pop-up advertisements are scattered along with the development of the Internet ecology. Just like bacteria in our lives, there is no way to completely eliminate them." In Wang Sixin's view, rationality should be used. Develop a perspective on pop-up advertising and avoid it becoming mainstream or becoming an overwhelming existence.
The existence of pop-up ads is reasonable, but if the negative externality is greater than the positive externality, we need to suppress, supervise, and manage.
In Zhao Occupy's view, most of the disgust of consumers comes from the phenomenon that the page cannot be closed repeatedly and the more pages are closed.
Therefore, he suggested to refine the detailed regulations on pop-up advertisements, stipulating the time interval of pop-ups, the form of pop-ups, and the proportion of pop-up windows.