Hey guys, thanks for the comments. I understand popups can be annoying, especially if you're not interested in what's being offered, but let me explain.
We work with a partner that manages our ads, campaigns and inventory. Occasionally our partner has an advertiser onboard that wants to use the popups as part of their campaign (doesn't happen all the time). The GOOD thing we have insisted upon however, is that we limit this type of popup to 1 per day, per site, per user. Also, these popups should only happen if you're visiting the full site from a computer. If you ever notice popups getting out of hand, or are getting them while browsing from your phone, please let me know IMMEDIATELY and we'll reach out to them to address any issues.
The reality is we have to pay the bills around here, so advertising is going to happen. But we ARE doing our best to keep them to a minimum.
A positive to keep in mind… as long as you're logged into Passport, you actually receive LESS ads than if you were logged out. We always want to offer our active users the fastest and cleanest browsing experience possible.
Hope this helps explain!