Yahoo! moves to block pop-ups

Yahoo! on Wednesday started testing a tool for blocking pop-ups for its Companion Toolbar, a downloadable plug-in that allows people to search the web directly from the browser.

The portal giant, which plans to launch the blocking tool officially next week, said the tool will let tens of millions of web surfers customise their internet experience by determining from which sites they will accept pop-up windows. In many cases it's fair to assume the answer will be a resounding 'none'.

The move comes roughly five months after search rival Google added similar features to its toolbar and follows an industry trend against the ads.

Internet service providers such as EarthLink and AOL have moved to let consumers fend off the ads, and Yahoo! updated its net access software with SBC Communications in September to include a pop-up blocker.

Stefanie Olsen writes for News.com