One of the most annoying parts of the Internet are all the little ads that pop-up on your screen as you are surfing the Web. Ever since I mentioned on the air last week that I was going to be doing a segment about pop-up ads, I have received lots of notes from angry viewers about them.

The proliferation of these ads, usually about a quarter the size of regular Web pages, makes me wistful for the tacky "shock the monkey" banner ads -- that's how bad things are these days. You have to constantly close the windows by clicking the ad windows, slowing down your time online.

And, just when I thought things couldn't get worse, sites are now using "pop-under" ads -- these ads don't show up right away, but remain hidden under your browser, and surface only when you are switching to another application.

Why the sudden mushrooming of pop-ups and their cousins? Because advertisers have realized that banner ads are not working -- users are not clicking through enough, so they need to make their ads more obvious.

The X10 wireless camera pop-ups and pop-unders are the most common of this type of ad -- showing up just about everywhere you look. And I still don't know a single person who has bought one of the $79 cameras.

Here are some things you can do.

* Hit the W key while holding down the CONTROL key to get rid of a popup window instantly. Or try ALT key and the F4 key at the same time. You need to do this with every single popup window, but once you learn to do it fast, you will find it isn't so bad. Especially if you learn to use your left pinkie and middle finger <grin>.

* If you use a Mac: Hit the W key while holding down the APPLE (a.k.a. "four-leaf clover" or "propeller").

* Just don't stress about them and keep shutting down the windows with your mouse (if the window is off to the right of the screen and you can't see the little "x" you use to shut down a window, click and drag the window to the left and then shut it down).

* Install pop-up stopping software. Try Pop-up Stopper at http://www.panicware.com -- its free and works well. The only problem is that it may mess up how your browser deals with certain sites that use the same underlying technology of pop-ups for more benign purposes.

*X10 offers a way to turn off its pop-ups for a 30-day period on a particular computer. See it explained at: http://www.x10.com/x10ads.htm

* If you use America Online and want to turn off the pop-up ads that show up within its pages, visit
http://aol.about.com/library/tips/bl_tips0044.htm

Things are going to become worse in the months ahead as sites get desperate for revenue. Until companies find a way to make real money online, watch your screen get more cluttered and the ads more painful.

Send your feedback -- and ideas for coverage: techguru@sree.net