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Ever been surprised by a popup that shows up as you’re about to leave a website? That’s exit-intent technology doing its thing. It tries to grab your attention one last time before you disappear into the digital void. But lately, something odd has been happening with OptinMonster on Google Chrome — popups have been firing twice!
TLDR (Too long, didn’t read):
- Chrome changed the way it tracks mouse movement and sessions.
- This caused OptinMonster’s exit-intent triggers to fire two times.
- The fix? Tune the session cookie settings to better match real user behavior.
- Now, things are back to normal — no more popup spamming!
What’s OptinMonster again?
OptinMonster is a tool that helps websites collect leads, emails, and offer discounts using popup forms. Smart popups, we might add. These popups can trigger based on actions like scrolling, time spent on site, or the famous exit-intent trigger.
Exit-intent means showing a popup when the user moves their mouse toward the top of the browser, signaling they’re about to leave. It’s a last-ditch attempt to catch your interest.
The Chrome glitch: Popups everywhere!
Imagine visiting a store and the shopkeeper yells “Wait! Don’t leave!” twice in a row. That’s what was happening online. Chrome users would try to exit a site, and boom — not one, but two popups.
Here’s why that was a problem:
- It was annoying for users.
- It made the brands using OptinMonster look buggy or desperate.
- It messed with reporting data: Were people really clicking? Or just reacting?
People around the web started raising their digital pitchforks. Something had to be done.
Why did it happen only on Chrome?
Great question. Chrome has been constantly evolving its web behavior to improve performance and privacy. Somewhere along the way, a tweak was made to how mouse movements and cookies were tracked during a single page session.
Specifically:
- Chrome began to interpret quick mouse flicks as multiple “exit attempts.”
- OptinMonster, trying to be helpful, saw each as a chance to show a popup.
- It didn’t realize: “Hey, we already showed this user a popup like .003 seconds ago!”
Older browsers didn’t experience this because their tracking methods were a bit slower and, ironically, more forgiving.
Enter the fix: Session-cookie tuning
You might be thinking, “Cookies again? Isn’t that just something I clear when my browser acts weird?” Kind of, yes. But cookies are also how websites remember things — like whether you already saw that popup.
OptinMonster stores a session cookie when it displays a popup. This cookie tells the system, “Hey, we’ve done our job. Lay low.”
Here’s what was wrong:
- The default session cookie was a bit too short-lived.
- In Chrome, super-fast user movements caused it to think the session ended, then restarted — instantly.
- That meant: “Let’s show this popup again!”
What the developers did was amazingly simple but effective:
- They increased the time that a session cookie would persist.
- They added a short delay check: if a popup was shown in the past 5 seconds, don’t show another one.
- They also made sure exit-intent checks run only once per real visit.
Let’s talk about user experience
Besides fixing the technical bug, the team at OptinMonster realized something else:
- Even if a browser tracks user behavior differently, no one wants to be nagged twice.
- More popups don’t always lead to more conversions. Sometimes, they just annoy people.
That’s why part of this fix included better UX thinking:
“Let’s treat users like people, not mice in a maze.”
Future updates might even allow more control over exit-intent sensitivity. Meaning: you, as the site owner, could fine-tune how easy it is to trigger a popup. No more accidental flashes just because someone reached for their coffee and moved their mouse!
Testing, testing… and success!
After rolling out the session-cookie tweaks and logic improvements, it was time to test.
They ran simulations across multiple browsers:
- Chrome (both stable and beta)
- Firefox
- Safari
- Microsoft Edge (yep, still a thing!)
Metrics improved within days:
- Popup impressions dropped — in a good way.
- Conversion rates stayed steady or even improved.
- Bounce rates got a little lower (users weren’t bailing from annoyance).
It was a double win: Better for users, better for businesses.
What can you learn from this?
Good question! Even if you’re not on the OptinMonster team, there’s something everyone can take away here:
- Don’t over-rely on automation. Smarter triggers need smarter controls.
- Test on real browsers! Just because it works in Firefox doesn’t mean it’s fine in Chrome.
- Respect user attention. Use popups with purpose — not panic.
- Session tracking matters. Short cookies can lead to repeat headaches.
Also, don’t trust your popup logic to run forever without a check-up. As browsers change, your site might behave differently even if you never change a line of code!
Quick recap
Let’s put a bow on this story:
- Exit-intent popups are helpful — when used right.
- On Chrome, they started firing more than once due to session misreads.
- The solution? Tweak the session cookies and delay logic.
- The result? Happy users. Accurate data. Better bounce control.
One final tip
If you’re using OptinMonster or any similar tool, give those settings a second look. Make sure your users see only what they’re supposed to — no more, no less.
And remember, a well-timed popup is like a well-timed joke. Miss the moment, and you just look awkward.
Now go fix your popups, digital wizard 🧙.
