What is Pop-Up?
Pop-up ads are forms of advertisement that show over the currently opened tabs and capture the user’s attention. Widespread and misused, pop-up ads almost became the norm to the point where search engines had to impose penalties or even outright block sites that used them. When pop-ups are used more strategically, such as during exit-intent overlays, timed offers, or age-verification modals, they can increase the leads and conversions without making visitors feel unwelcome. Suggested best practices for the use of pop-ups are having an option to quit the pop-up and having the pop-up relate to what the user is doing.
In other words, examples of pop-ups include a signup form for a newsletter appearing after a user scrolls halfway, a discount offer when the user moves their cursor toward the close button on the browser exit layer, and an age-gate modal before content that has restrictions.
Related terms: Pop-up window, interstitial ad, exit intent, and lightbox overlay are all related terms.