[bwindsor]

I'd be interested if there's research showing whether a one-off popup gives more signups or more annoyance. The marketing people seem to think it's better to have it there.

I agree it's hard to close, I'll see if I can do something about that. It shouldn't keep coming back once closed, which browser are you using? Although it does come back if you refresh the page. I might be able to do something about that as well.

[tomerv]

I just noticed that this kind of pop-up appearing is a trigger for me to close the page. I immediately get the feeling that I got the basic idea of that page.

[culpable_pickle]

Personally, those popups are an immediate close tab for me. If you have no confidence in my wanting to sign up for your news letter after I've seen your content, I don't want to bother with your content at all.

[morberg]

You should ask your marketing people to back up their beliefs with research. While you are waiting think about how you react on other sites that use pop-ups. For me it’s an insta-close. YMMV.