I've struggled with this popup (keeping it or nixing it; I'm the owner of the site). Sadly, it's insanely effective at converting folks (thousand of subscriptions over the last few months; high retention as I track those subs separately). It shouldn't trigger while reading unless you leave the window. And also won't trigger until you're at the bottom of the screen. And if you dismiss it once, you should never see it again with that browser on the site.
That said, it is annoying, especially on a page about newsletters. So I just modified my templates to take a variable to turn it off on a page-by-page basis (using Hugo to generate the site). Won't appear for this post anymore.
I regularly delete all cookies for sites that don't require login (i.e. most content sites I visit), so for me such popup annoyances keep recurring. And I often leave the window before I come back later to finish the article, which is even more annoying and makes the popup look like a desperate scream for attention. Sometimes I actually do sign up for newsletters, but in those rare situations I first look for the contact details on the page, and then I create a specific new email address for that subscription, so it's nothing I do on a whim. I am amazed that people submit their email address to a random popup.
But thanks for removing it for this page, it's a step in the right direction!
Note: I have no problems with non-popup info about newsletters or other engagement offerings (e.g. end-of-page banners), those are much less intrusive than popups.
> It shouldn't trigger while reading unless you leave the window
One thing I've noticed is that they often appear (can't speak to this one specifically) if you alt-tab to another window to note something. That can be almost annoying as appearing while you are reading.
That said, it is annoying, especially on a page about newsletters. So I just modified my templates to take a variable to turn it off on a page-by-page basis (using Hugo to generate the site). Won't appear for this post anymore.