Here are some things I've learned about that you might find useful. Note that I cannot guarantee the effectiveness of some of these tips. Prevent those annoying web advertisements. Some ads, such as banner ads, are unavoidable, but some of the more annoying types, such as pop-unders, can sometimes be prevented. Pop-unders are those advertisement windows that show up after you close some other browser window. You'll usually see them flash up on the screen for an instant when they first appear, but then they hide behind the window you were trying to view, just waiting for you to find them later. Advertisers think they're less annoying that way. Yeah, right. Fortunately, some of the companies that produce annoying ads for advertisers provide opt-out mechanisms. It's too early to tell how effective opting out is, but I'll take them at their word. (Believing advertisers? Am I insane? Maybe.) Listed below are some links to various opt-out pages. You should read the verbiage that explains what opting out does and how it works. In general, you must enable cookies, at least while you're exercising the opt-out feature. If you find similar companies with an opt-out feature, please let me know. (NOTE: There are commercial products that claim to prevent pop-ups and other types of ads, but I have not tried any of them.) Stop unsolicited credit and insurance offers. You have the right to prohibit information contained in any file with a credit-reporting agency from being used in any credit or insurance transaction that you did not initiate. To exercise this right, contact the three major credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion -- by calling 1-888-5OPTOUT. NOTE: Credit card companies also get solicitation lists from sources other than the big credit bureaus; this phone number won't help with those. |
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