Have you ever been browsing a website, or in my case stumbling via Google Chrome's StumbleUpon toolbar, and had a full page ad interrupt? I don't mean a small pop up with an x in the corner, but the full blown, "we have a header at the top that makes you wait x amount of seconds before you can see the content you came here to see, and while you wait you will be forced to look at this advertisement from one of our sponsors" style advertisement. As a developer and consultant on user experience this is one of the most egregious of offenses one could perform when creating a site that you actually want to KEEP users on. I understand the need to advertise to generate revenue. I do it myself. There is nothing wrong with advertising; just please remember that if that is one of the first things that your potential customer sees they may be so turned off by it that they leave.
What sparked this? I recently visited a Popular Mechanic magazine article, not sure which one as I rage quit the tab before it actually showed. It is my own way of dealing with companies that feel their content is so important to me that I would be willing to sit through ad advertisement before getting to the content. When it comes to advertising, finding a way to incorporate the advertisement smoothly into a site's design is a great way to make a potential customer feel that it is supposed to be there. This feeling of unity helps encourage a visitor to click on the ad. Why? Because they feel that the ad is relevant, and part of the site. I think it's simple. To keep the most positive user experience possible, please don't develop a site with a forced full page ad before viewing content; instead, try adding adverts to the side and embedded in content if you want to monetize your pages. It looks cleaner, is more inviting, and most of all it doesn't make visitors rage quit your page.
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