Flashing Web Adverts

Who on earth decided that unsolicited visual movement on a website was a good idea? Flashing adverts are worse than popups; at least popups are in a different browser window.*

But these things... my gawd. They grab my mental focus and don't let go - which is probably what the advertiser had in mind, but was it really what the site owner intended? I can't read any site content without holding something up against the screen to block out the flashing. And if I don't absolutely need to read something on that site, I leave it immediately and never intentionally return. Surely this isn't what site owners are after?


*Yeah, I know you can block all ads, but that's more trouble than it's worth when my idea of content is the blocker's idea of advertising, and vice versa.