Posted by Scott on August 31, 2007 at 7:36 p.m.

Link to Naming names: which mobile blogs put ads in the text?

On his personal blog, Ryan Block (editor-in-chief of Engadget) posted An open letter to friends and colleagues on keyword popovers.

You know who you are, and many of you are people I consider friends and colleagues in the industry. You’re smart, independent businesspeople carving out your niche in the new media landscape. You know how to connect with your audience. And yet you use keyword popover ads. You’re getting some of those ad revenue dollars from IntelliTXT / Vibrant Media and like ad services whose entire business depends on polluting your content, confusing your audience, and tricking them into clicking on ads that just won’t go away.

What are these popover ads and why are they so annoying?

Here's the pitch:

IntelliTXT enables every word to be an opportunity to engage with your customers.

100% User-driven

Engage with your customers on their terms, only when they're interested. Deliver a user-initiated movie trailer, game preview, music video, or commercial through IntelliTXT VIDEO.

In-Text Placement

Use in-text placement to cut through the online advertising clutter.

Use Words to Engage. Contact us today...

Here's the problem. First, it mixes ads directly into the text, rather than having ads in a separate section that is clearly labelled. Second, it's deceptive. By convention, links are underlined. IntelliTXT underlines ordinary words (sometimes with double-underline), fooling the reader into thinking that the blog's author created a link to something the reader might find interesting. Instead of a link, the reader gets a pop-up ad. Third, popups are annoying.

So, which sites are trying so hard to ~~engage~~ annoy their readers? Here are some mobile blogs we found that have IntelliTXT ads on the home page today:

jk On the Run with James Kendrick & Kevin Tofel ... using mobile devices since they weighed 30 lbs.