[corobo]

Anecdotal data of course but If I'm still reading and something pops up over the content I either switch to iReader view (If it's good content) or close the tab faster than I can read the first sentence.

If I've not even had the chance to read anything when it pops up chances are anything on your domain is never being clicked again. If I came in via Google I click the little "Block <domain>" link on the way back for good measure

[logicallee]

It's all fair though, because most content online has as much attention put into writing it as you are willing to put into accessing it. Your attitude is no different from an online "writer's": if it doesn't fall into their lap ready to be reposted with 1 single click, fuck it.

Seriously, I cannot fathom what content online is worth reading, but for which the 5 seconds you are cost to click an x is not worth investing. The level of entitlement you show here is bewildering. It is like you are fighting tooth and nail for junk content that is not worth anyone's time to any extent whatsoever. What a reader.

I, too, am annoyed by having to click an X. At the same time, it makes me smile: the content underneath is actually worth something, and took work on someone's part, to the extent that it's being monetized while remaining accessible for me. It's not going to be some two-sentence blogspam.

[corobo]

You make a fair point about the entitlement there. Free content does indeed have to pay off somewhere else it wont be free much longer. I just wish it didn't interrupt the reading flow!

There was a suggestion elsewhere in the thread of triggering the popover based on actions rather than time which might work better (Again, only on me that I know of - others will differ!)

For an example off the top of my head maybe the top of the bottom third of the currently visible window going past the start of the comment section[1] triggers it, at that point I'm probably done reading the article and about to leave or read some comments. There's a huge amount of variables here but if it was a good article and the popover is a mailing list signup chances are I'd be open to signing up at that point. From there you sell via email later on.

Unfortunately I don't have any real marketing data (or skills for that matter) to back me up which means there's a lot of "I" going on in my posts here, which definitely adds to the over-entitled jerk appearance. Chances are a lot of people will sign up and will click ads and websites would do a lot better with them as the reader than myself :-)

[1] Wow that was a horrible mash of words on reflection. Hopefully it's readable.

[logicallee]

Thanks - sorry, I didn't mean to write quite so harshly and would probably tone it down a tad if I could still edit; I meant to just put an opposing viewpoint down, since you wrote with an exceptionally strong position. The truth is probably somewhere in between our two comments.

[TeMPOraL]

> Seriously, I cannot fathom what content online is worth reading, but for which the 5 seconds you save by clicking an x is not worth investing.

It's not about content, it's about the company actively showing that they don't really care about providing any value, but only about monetizing you.

[drcongo]

This. I wrote this piece [1] on Medium, previously submitted here [2] about this exact issue. I also made Tab Closed; Didn't Read [3].

[1] https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/a30bbe8b54a5

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6819358

[3] http://tabcloseddidntread.com

[TeMPOraL]

Thanks for the links. Bookmarked TC;DR immediately.

[jaegerpicker]

That's complete bs, The only way that most of these content providers can keep on providing value for you is to monetize you. Web site's aren't free, writers/programmers/servers cost real money. No one owes you anything. You want good free content to read then deal with the fucking overlays. The sense of entitlement kills me. It isn't a answer of just being "better" either. People of lazy and if you give them all the content without at least pushing them to sign up, a lot will not.

[TeMPOraL]

> The only way that most of these content providers can keep on providing value for you is to monetize you.

How about if they actually asked for money in a honest, up-front way, instead of treating users like a cattle to be milked? What the hell happened to the "exchanging value for money" business model?

> No one owes you anything. You want good free content to read then deal with the fucking overlays.

Me dealing (or not) with overlays is a completely orthogonal thing to the fact that people who employ those methods are at least disrespectful of their users, if not out-right dishonest.