You know what? It's usually me thinking this about that kind of comment, but this one really is that bad. It's not that it's not optimized for mobile, it's like the site was optimized against mobile.
I couldn't have put it better. It's as if they're degrading the experience so you'll use some proprietary app. If I'd been prompted to visit the play store it would not have been a surprise
I understand your point and would agree in most cases. I am usually pretty forgiving of mobile popups, etc. However, in this case I gave up before even making it to the real article. I felt like I was in a loop of modals that wouldn't relent until I subscribed. Give it a shot and let me know if I am wrong.
And if it's not specifically the web devs for this site lurking, discouraging others from following the same path isn't bad.
I personally got two screen-filling pop ups on this site, the second of which was a survey before I was even able to browse. If anyone out there is considering doing this on your site, consider that I added this site to my growing list of filters and will never visit it again.
Yes, a lot of sites are not optimized for mobile devices. That doesn't mean I want to read a rant about it on every 3rd article.