Snap Preview Anywhere Snap Back

A choice of 8 colors

Snap Preview Anywhere Badge


Snap Preview Anywhere are back with a new version of their controversial pop-up widget that had spawned a vitriolic backlash from those who said they found it annoying, indiscriminate and "just a gimmick" for the company.

This time around, SPA have informed users that they have enhanced the user interface. They have incorporated new features that would allow the site owner to customize a link, image, css, etc.

Here are the five main reasons why SPA are snapping back:

• You can now pick your own color theme. There are 8 colors to choose from.
  
• You can add a logo to the Preview Bubble. According to SPA, your site is your brand. Now your preview can show your own logo, too.
  
• You can choose a Snap Link Icon. This is a tiny bubble icon that appears next to a link to show that it has a Preview and Trigger to prevent accidental previews.
  
• You can place a Snap Preview Anywhere Badge on your site to give your users the option to turn on previews.
  
• Advanced options for advanced websites. You can implement as many as you like or none at all in one convenient interface.
  
  

For full details on all of the upgrades that have come to Snap Preview Anywhere, you can visit their FAQ page.

Making Changes To Your Site?

In an email to users and former users, SPA are also inviting website owners to "lend" them their sites to test "new cutting edge technologies." Well, I don't know. Would you?

If you think you need to crank up your website, maybe you can email your URL and contact information to guineapig@snap.com.

This is what they say: "Don't worry, we're professionals and we generally know what we're doing."

Grab It! Or Snap Out Of It!

One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Poison: Some people are snapping up Snap Preview Anywhere because they think this pop-up widget is cool and helpful. For others, they are snapping back because they think this gimmick is downright annoying or even a pain in the you-know-where.

Love It Or Hate It: Since it was made available to users sometime last year, Snap Preview Anywhere has, like PayPerPost, come under some heavy artillery fire. But not without some defensive manoeuvre by those who see some benefits coming from it.

What's The Intended User Benefit?: Erik Wingren, head of Snap UX Research says:

"In a nutshell, our product is intended to enable users to 'look before leaping', saving many people a wasted click. I will, however, be the first to admit that this is a product that some people don't like, and this is why we have made sure to include a simple method to opt-out for those who don't like it (click the 'options' menu in the upper right of the preview bubble)."

Here are some gathered views on the pros and cons. You come to your own conclusion.

Snap Pros:

• You can hover over links to make sure you type the URLs correctly.
  
  
• You can quickly test for link rot in your blogroll and other links.
  
  
• User can get a glimpse of where the link is at.
  
  
• Not a gimmick but a step forward to a new service dimension for blog readers.

Snap Cons:

• Annoying because when it hovers over a link its view is blocked by the pop-up.
  
  
• Previewing functionality is indiscriminate. Every single link on the page gets this preview.
  
  
• The technology loads more javascripts onto a page, affecting loading times.
  
  
• It draws the eye away from the task at hand, causes annoyance and loss of concentration.
  
  
• It's bling, a silly little shiney thing designed specifically to increase awareness of Snap.com.
  
  Well, to each his own. So where do you stand, folks?