This is Ethan Zuckerman. He is the inventor of pop-up adds and has apologised for unintentionally creating one of the worst forms of advertising and the “millions of hours lost to pop-up ads”.
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2025
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Thats okay, if he didnt, the other Zucker would have
Look at his laptop, it looks like pop-up ads
Well I guess If he didn’t invent it, someone else would have at some point in time. 
Ethan Zuckerman is an internet scholar and professor who, in the late 1990s, helped create the pop-up ad while working at Tripod, a website development company. Originally intended as a way to generate revenue for free websites, pop-up ads quickly became infamous for their intrusive and disruptive nature. In later years, Zuckerman expressed regret for his role in creating the ads, acknowledging that they contributed to a more frustrating online experience and the commercialisation of the web. In his public apology, he reflected on the unintended negative consequences of pop-up ads and discussed their broader implications for online advertising.
Sources:
1. [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/27/ethan-zuckerman-i-regret-pop-up-ads)
2. Wired
3. The Atlantic
4. MIT Media Lab
edit: Sorry I don’t know why the other links aren’t working
My soul burns with hated, far stronger than fire.
And my heart attempts to reason with my deepest desires of vengeance.
Yet my eyes…. they see the same fucking, disgrace to humankind, mobile game ad for the 22,271th time.
I can’t take much more of this, Ethan… I just can’t…
To the Hague with him
Kinda like the guy who invented shopping malls. He regretted destroying mainstreets everywhere.
Still not the worst Zuck
TIL if your last name begins with Zucker, you zuck
And they haven’t gone anywhere now in the form of subscribe to some more bullshit email list abruptly while you’re reading
I’m pretty sure that if he didn’t, other person wuld, it’s just a logical next step for advertisers
What’s funny is the browsers have been removing the ability for ads to make a pop up. And the ad companies keep paying to put that feature back in. It started with Netscape navigator refusing to offer a stop button. Internet explorer offered that as well as pop up blocking. Netscape at the time was totally in bed with the advertisers.
Some things never change. The browser companies are like the phone companies, saying they can’t control all these telemarketing calls when they can. Pretending they don’t know who’s doing the calling, when they do.
The browser companies say they can’t stop ads, but they can. They’re paid not to.
I havent seen a popup ad since 2009.
The browser makers came up with the feature, he was just the first to make use of it for ads.
Looks like Cartman from make love not Warcraft
He looks as I would expect
If Hollywood writers were in a room and created the character that invented pop up ads, they would have come up with his name.
The Director, having read and refined the script would have worked with the casting director and after scouring the globe, they would have seen every available actor and cast the actor that looks like this guy.
The Matrix will be based on our reality.
tbf it would’ve happened the same sooner or later anyways
Did he give back all the money?
You should be sorry, Ethan.
I mean we can’t all be the good guy. The difference here being he realized his mistake and owns up to it, and then apologized. Which to me makes him a good guy. I forgive you dude.
*Forget*, sounds good/ *Forgive*, I *don’t think I could*
Need someone to invent *pop-up subtracts*, pronto
Everybody boo this man
one more name to add to extra hell reservations
Okay, adding him to the list of those who were not evil but contributed to general annoyingness just in case I get a time machine and licence to exterminate…
No no. An apology doesn’t suffice. He needs to do time. Hard time. Lock him up in a tiny cell with a computer that he NEEDS to use to request food and toilet time, but he HAS to fend off endless waves of pop up ads to reach the buttons.
No wonder he popped up on my feed
“Zuckermans famous pig” from charlottes web keeps popping up in my head!