Great points here and of course you’re right that trust is a key consideration. My impression is that the average person is less sensitive to this stuff and doesn’t consider all the security issues you’ve raised. That’s not to say they shouldn’t – a whole separate issue where you may be very right that we’re not sufficiently cautious online – only that I haven’t observed such behaviour. And you’re right that buttons do better when they indicate the destination they lead to.

Thanks for sharing a really thought out, insightful comment! Would you like me to link to your site?

I have blacklisted sites for these ads that are out of context. They are always suspect to me because, as a developer, I know that “forcing” me to blind-click on a link with a completely unknown destination is a horrible choice. All kinds of damage can happen when you do that. It will usually be more likely to make me kill the browser window instead (as opposed to no other way to get rid of that popup).

The conclusion is that
1. Your site should have notices that promise no malware (where people are expected to see them.) Not necessarily an easy thing.
2. Your site should already have a strong reputation and customers should feel safe clicking on your promotions.
3. Simply leaving another “out” for the truely worried is not a bad idea. The back button on the browser that only removes the ad but doesn’t navigate completely from the page is a good idea. Most people who are reluctant to click on an ad will try that option first. The escape key (from a desktop) would be second. Third they would try to close the browser window. All of those are bad answers. If they have tried those things and none of them have made the ad go away? A closed browser (along with any other open tabs or sites) will simply guarantee they won’t be back.
The moral here is that any click on a page (even the ‘x’ to close a window) is an avenue for unscrupulous developers to attack you (identity theft, bank information, install malware, use your computer to help attack other computers). You get the point. We click on things because we trust the source. When we erode that trust it’s hard to get it back.

I’m not saying that these ads are all evil. A backout of an add can be tracked, the same as the text clicks in the add. If you get many of them on your site, be less agressive. If your sure your users won’t mind, by all means, do it. But don’t risk driving customers away over a security concern that you can easily avoid.

Final thought: If someone backs out of your site because they are uneasy about a business’ practice. They won’t forget to tell their friends. If they were interested in your site, their friends WOULD HAVE BEEN too.

I would love to know one can optimize the page for more app installs

David is awesome and definitely an up & coming superstar down here in Oz. I miss working with him! Glad he’s getting his name out a bit more and starting to shine.

Really interesting to hear overall how things are similar (and different) between what the two of you may be up to or how you approach different problems.