Let me tell you that I loathe videos that start playing (with audio) automatically as soon as a web page loads.

I multitask, and I also work with a lot of background browser tabs. For example, if I’m going through my Google News emails, or using Google Reader, I will Apple-click on links to open them in background tabs for reading in full and working from later.

I also sometimes have music on, or a TV window open.

So it’s incredibly frustrating to suddenly hear strange voices or music that I’m not expecting, emanating from my speakers.

It’s then a mad dash through a load of browser tabs trying to work out which one has the pesky video running, in order to stop it.

It’s irritating and it lowers my productivity. Sure, it’s less of a problem for the casual surfer who only ever has one browser window open at a time, but I’m a power surfer who uses the Internet extensively for my work, and I don’t appreciate these kinds of interruptions to my workflow.

Advertisers and webmasters – learn what hacks people off, then don’t do it. There’s a reason why embedded video players have play buttons on. It’s called opt-in. Choice.

Rant over.