As a more general point, the reason you see this kind of stuff all the time is that it simply converts better. I spent two years working full-time on funnel and conversion optimization and unfortunately things that many people would view as 'user unfriendly' are the things that convert the best. This is not just measuring the next step in the funnel either, you can measure all the way down to purchase (or whatever your unit of conversion is) and this method of user interaction just works better. I may lose you as a customer, but the statistics dictate that I'm going to do much better overall if I do things this way which is why everybody does. (Groupon, Fab, Gilt, etc).