Let’s say I wanted to buy the ad space that appears at the top of the home page for The Straight Dope. Do I have to advertise a product or service? Could I just buy an ad that says: “I Like Pie” or “Nothing to see here, please move along”? Does the ad banner HAVE to link to something?
We had one once that said “Nothing to click here, nothing to see, brought to you by a friend of the SDMB” or something like that. As long as you fork over the money I assume they’re not too picky about it. I have an actual product that I keep meaning to advertise, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
(BTW, I’m so pleased with the way “I like pie” is catching on!)
I can’t remember if the one purchased by “friends of the SDMB” linked to something or not. The Chicago Reader advertising department could probably answer that question.