I had forgotten to turn the sound down and there was an ad playing video with sound that I hadn't clicked on (as I had been asleep this would have been unlikely anyway) ...
It turned out the ad was running on the Weather Underground site:
I complained to them and was told I could get an ad-free version for $20/year.
Instead, I no longer use their site except for brief views to check forecast against other weather sites who don't use this technique. I used to leave it up all the time.
I also make a point never to do business with any advertiser using this technique; the only one I have heard clearly before clicking closed the page was 'Advil', and not being a common user of NSAIDs anyway this won't have any affect on their market. But still ...
I don't mind ads; I don't even mind targeted ads. I just clicked around after starting with a Volkswagen TDI link on Wired.com, and I expect to get car ads for a while now. (Too bad for them as I have 18 months left on my current lease.) But I don't expect any of those ads to play sound without my explicit request for them to do so.
Weather Underground is owned by Weather.com; I've tried Accuweather but haven't settled on another weather site; suggestions?
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