The next time your client insists on pop-up windows and sneakymanouvers to get their customers to "stay" on their website remind them,

In the days before Google, search engines like Excite, Hotbot, and Altavista larded themselves up with content in a desperate effort to delay users beyond the two pages of a search activity - search box and results. The goal was "stickiness," discouraging people from leaving your domain. When Google launched, one reason it shocked the Web community was its focus on getting you to where you actually wanted to go. How could there be a successful business model in actively sending people away from your site?

Seven years and a $75 billion market capitalization later, that question has obviously been answered. The other search engines attempted to control your behavior. Google recognized that users maintain control, and to win they had to become users' preferred choice. - How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Relinquish Control by Peter Merholz