What's The Point In Online Registration?

[Phantasm66]

How many times have you bailed out of downloading some file, or looking at some web site, because it asked for a long list of personal details? Ever abandoned a notion to look at some free news content because you were being asked one hundred and one questions about your last ten addresses?

"Increasingly, Web publishers, and in particular newspaper sites, are demanding that readers give up some of their personal information -- like e-mail addresses, gender and salaries -- in exchange for free access to their articles. The publishers say they need this information to make money from advertising. But anecdotal evidence and online chatter suggest readers are annoyed with the registration process. Some readers enter bogus information, while others are looking for ways to bypass the registration roadblocks."

Indeed, there seems to be some sites out there to help the internet user generate bogus registration details. People might actually go out of their way to stop being hassled by such things. I can believe it.

 

[Rick]

I never fill out the registations correctly and I have a special junk email address for just such an occasion.

 

[abc]

Registration is SO annoying. I use mailinator much of the time. I also use bugmenot for firefox, which sometimes works. Needless to say, nothing I give them is useable. I hope there really isn't a 123 fake st. in Afghanistan.

 

[Phantasm66]

I'd be forced to admit that its quite possibly the forth most annoying thing on the internet, the other 3 being:

1)Pop ups
2)Viruses
3)Spam


Its followed by 5)Spyware