# Banner ads or Subscriptions? A Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252 "2007-11-30T00:27:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/1 "2007-11-30T00:27:09Z")
I know we already have enough threads about the hot topic du jour, but I believe this one might even be of some use to TPTB. Would you prefer a free SDMB loaded with flashy banners (as most sports forums), or would you prefer an SDMB without banners but with a higher subscription fee? If the latter, how much would you be willing to pay for a board without ads? A valid third option is saying that you are ok with things as they are. Paying and with banners. Please, let’s keep the debates to a minimum here. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/2 "2007-11-30T00:28:18Z")
And my own response… I would prefer a free SDMB with banners. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/3 "2007-11-30T00:31:16Z")
$19.99 a year, no freaking ads. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/4 "2007-11-30T00:40:08Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] $19.99 a year, no freaking ads. [/QUOTE] I wonder if that was the plan along. “If we implement ads to subscribers, they’ll be willing to pay more to get rid of them.” “Brilliant!” ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/5 "2007-11-30T00:44:03Z")
I would rather pay to not have the ads. I’ve got firefox and adblock at home, but at work I’m using IE. And I’ve already started to notice an appreciable slowdown since the ads have been implemented here, without the noisy/flashy ones being added on top. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/6 "2007-11-30T01:25:35Z")
My preference: a two tier system. Pay a couple bucks more if the ads bother you that much. But I’d want the choice, and I’d likely pay to not have ads (assuming I couldn’t block them and it wasn’t _really_ expensive). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/7 "2007-11-30T01:48:05Z")
I am able to block them but I would pay the extra money for the StraightDope-approved officiallly sanctioned absence of ads, to offset the revenue lost to the board by not having ad revenue come through as a result of my viewing. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/8 "2007-11-30T02:04:24Z")
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus] My preference: a two tier system. Pay a couple bucks more if the ads bother you that much. But I’d want the choice, and I’d likely pay to not have ads (assuming I couldn’t block them and it wasn’t _really_ expensive). [/QUOTE] Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Ocean\_Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8797f3/32.png) [@Ocean\_Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocean_Annie)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/9 "2007-11-30T02:07:11Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] $19.99 a year, no freaking ads. [/QUOTE] Agreed! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/10 "2007-11-30T02:23:34Z")
Banner ads can _and have_ hid Spyware. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/11 "2007-11-30T02:29:43Z")
I actually would prefer the ads and a free dope, but not because of the money issue. I think the dope was better when it was free: livelier, and less like other places on the web. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/12 "2007-11-30T02:34:46Z")
Free to read AND post, but you can pay to not see banner ads. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/13 "2007-11-30T02:47:54Z")
I’d pay more to have an ad-free Dope. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/14 "2007-11-30T02:52:50Z")
Another vote for $19.99 and no ads. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/15 "2007-11-30T03:44:22Z")
$19.99 (that’s about $15 CAD) USD and no ads. And I want a special title. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/16 "2007-11-30T03:51:00Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] $19.99 (that’s about $15 CAD) USD and no ads. And I want a special title. [/QUOTE] I’ll go along with that for the sake of a price point. As for a special title, how about “Charter Member”? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/17 "2007-11-30T03:52:24Z")
I thought we were paying already _to have no ads._ Wasn’t that one of the reasons given for charging? To avoid having to put up with revenue-producing ad schemes? Nevertheless… People, people. If you follow one of the numerous suggestions in various threads, you won’t see any ads at all. Then it becomes a moot point; Chi Reader is happy since they get income (?) from ads; viewers are happy, since they don’t see any ads. It’s win-win. Although I do feel sorry for those at workplaces that make this kind of action impossible. Can’t you convince your IT dept to handle this for all, and it’s a good thing? If I were still running an IT Dept., all it would take is a beer to convince me. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/18 "2007-11-30T04:00:39Z")
Pardon my naiveté, but why isn’t firefox w/ad-block the browser of choice here? I understand that some users may hang out here via company/library computers, etc. I’m not savvy enough to know why _everyone else_ doesn’t use an ad-blocking browser. Could someone cure my ignorance? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/19 "2007-11-30T04:27:21Z")
I think the number of interesting posts and useful responses have gone down significantly since they started charing for the site. For that reason I’d prefer a free site with banner ads. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/20 "2007-11-30T06:22:35Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] \As for a special title, how about “Charter Member”? [/QUOTE] That’s not special enough. I want Queen of All She Surveys or something momentous like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252.md?page=2)