I know many of you may not be crazy about the number of ads we need to run, though we try our best to keep it in bounds. But here is my nominee for most annoying web innovation this century. You've probably noticed that on some sites these days if you happen to randomly click on unlinked text a little box pops up with the dictionary definition of the word you clicked and of course an ad. (I'm used to low-rent sites pulling this kind of nonsense but the New York Times is doing it now too.)

Now I don't mind ads if they're paired along with something I'm remotely interested in. But do you ever really click on these things to find word definitions? I'm convinced this whole thing is just a scam to serve up accidental pop-ups while allowing the publisher to pretend they're providing a service.

If you find this useful, please let me know. (And no, don't worry, we're never going to do it. It's just my idle curiosity.)

Late Update: TPM Reader RM, not a fan ...

The Times has been doing it for months now. I'm someone who highlights paragraphs as I read them and when I accidentally click on the highlighted section I get the damn pop up.

It's irritating as hell and it's gotten to the point where I'm so sick of it I don't even look at the Times' site anymore.

But at least they got rid of Times Select, eh?

I do the exact same thing. Drives me nuts.