# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/21 "2007-11-30T08:34:56Z")
I think the current membership fee should guarantee no banner ads, as well as a whole lot better performance then we are getting now. I hate it that we can’t search old threads anymore, I hate the search restrictions, I hate the time-outs and technical glitches. I don’t hate the Google ads, though. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/22 "2007-11-30T08:49:00Z")
Third option = I’m fine with things the way they are now, though I too would like to be able to search old thread and have fewer time-outs and technical glitches, but they aren’t deal-killers IMO. And **Maastricht** , what is your rationale for thinking the SDMB should guarantee after the fact that the current subscription fee should guarantee no banner ads and better performance? I’m not looking for an argument with you here, I’m just mystified that you would think this way as most guarantees I know of are not retroactive but pertain to the agreement between parties at the time the deal or purchase is made. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/23 "2007-11-30T11:12:34Z")
There are lots of free sites with all the flashy ads where you can pay a membership fee to not see them. For instance, the weather site [Weather Underground](http://www.weatherunderground.com/) has lots of ads, but they disappear for $10/year. That would be the best of both worlds, AFAIAC. It doesn’t have to be either-or. ---
**Author:** ![Dying\_Butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dying\_Butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dying_Butterfly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/24 "2007-11-30T12:14:57Z")
I’d prefer a free board with ads or **RTFirefly’s** suggestion. I’m fine with there being ads, I just don’t want to pay and see them. I hardly ever have spare cash as it, so spending fifteen bucks on a subscription just to get ads anyway seems like a waste to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/25 "2007-11-30T12:47:29Z")
I too would prefer free board with ads/pay to make the ads go away. It was certainly a livelier board when it was free. I only paid up in the first place because I was hooked after several years. There’s no way I would have ponied up after only 30 days. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/26 "2007-11-30T12:52:57Z")
[QUOTE=zweisamkeit] Free to read AND post, but you can pay to not see banner ads. [/QUOTE] Sounds good to me! Spin-off boards are appealing, but more for the social aspect – I’d like to keep up with my friends here, and doing so on a board that isn’t associated with Cecil or the Reader has some advantages. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/27 "2007-11-30T12:57:27Z")
I’d prefer the ads. Part of the reason the board’s been pretty lame over the last year or two is because the subscription fees have been scaring off new blood. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/28 "2007-11-30T12:58:28Z")
I’ll pay to be a member of a board that doesn’t have banner ads. But, I don’t think we should have to pay anymore than we already do, just to get rid of the ads. If we are asked to pay more, there had BETTER be a promise of upgrading to the newest vBulletin software version, extending our search abilites, putting up the archives with our old posts and allowing us to access them again, as well as a promise to lessen board outages even more. None of this trying to force us to be willing to pay more just to banish the ads. ETA: Or, **RTFirefly** ’s idea. So, I shouldn’t be seeing any ads! ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/29 "2007-11-30T13:11:07Z")
We’ve got to look at this not from the perspective of our SDMB administration but from TPTB in Atlanta (?)… The almightly dollar bill is usually the bottom line. I have no problem paying to post, and I do not mind the ads as I never have my sound up to high, and I scroll down quickly instead of perseverating on the fact that there _ **Are** _ ads at all. I love the nature of this board and will not give up on it ads or not…I like it for it’s diversity andI do not think ads change the nature of this board much at all. ---
**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, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/30 "2007-11-30T14:26:28Z")
**Phlosphr** - “perseverating?” Did you just make that up? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/31 "2007-11-30T14:58:36Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] And **Maastricht** , what is your rationale for thinking the SDMB should guarantee after the fact that the current subscription fee should guarantee no banner ads and better performance? I’m not looking for an argument with you here, I’m just mystified that you would think this way as most guarantees I know of are not retroactive but pertain to the agreement between parties at the time the deal or purchase is made. [/QUOTE] Well, I don’t see that guarantee as retroactive. When the board went pay, we HAD more search access, and we didnt have the banners. And we were promised, more or less, that board performance would improve. Since then, board performance hasn’t improved, and both perks have been taken away without any kind of agreement beforehand along the lines of: "We take away a perk, but here’s how you can protest/ here’s what we give in return/ here is why we are forced to do it. So the way I see it, maybe naively, is that I am still holding to the original deal, but the Reader hasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/32 "2007-11-30T15:04:05Z")
No ads, for Charter Members only. 😃 Regards, Shodan No ads for members. If they have to jack up the fee, fine. Also customized Status Names. And pie. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/33 "2007-11-30T15:17:18Z")
Consider I pay $36/year (I think that’s what it costs) to listen to commercial-free radio (Launchcast), I choose subscription with no ads. But as my lifetime membership fee is supposed to be $7.48/year, I wouldn’t be willing to pay more just to get the new ads removed. Not to be too melodramatic, but it smacks of extortion. Exec: We’re going to add banner ads to the top of your page, but for another $5/year, you can get rid of them. No, there are no improvements or features planned at this time. Six months later… Exec: Now we’re going to add banner ads to the end of every tenth post, but for another $5/year, you can get rid of those, too. No, we’re still not going to give you any improvements or features to the board. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/34 "2007-11-30T15:33:39Z")
As a charter member, I pay next to nothing to post. I would gladly increase the amount I pay _if there was a guarantee that they weren’t going to come back and extort more money by threatening ads next year!_ It’s not even that I mind the occassional price increase - everything else goes up, and I think we should foot the bill for improvements, etc. But to put the ads up and say, “Okay, if you pay, the ads come down” and then rethreaten every year or two would make me very unhappy. I don’t respond well to threats or extortion. StG ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/35 "2007-11-30T16:21:34Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] And my own response… I would prefer a free SDMB with banners. [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/36 "2007-11-30T16:46:06Z")
Well the Ads are at least temporarily gone. I just checked and tested. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/37 "2007-11-30T16:48:53Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] $19.99 (that’s about $15 CAD) USD and no ads. And I want a special title. [/QUOTE] EXACTLY. ETA Which now, it appears, is a moot point. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/38 "2007-11-30T17:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Well, I don’t see that guarantee as retroactive. When the board went pay, we HAD more search access, and we didnt have the banners. And we were promised, more or less, that board performance would improve. Since then, board performance hasn’t improved, and both perks have been taken away without any kind of agreement beforehand along the lines of: "We take away a perk, but here’s how you can protest/ here’s what we give in return/ here is why we are forced to do it. So the way I see it, maybe naively, is that I am still holding to the original deal, but the Reader hasn’t. [/QUOTE] Okay. Now I understand your point better. Thanks for the answer. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/39 "2007-11-30T17:18:04Z")
[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] I like. > [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Free to read AND post, but you can pay to not see banner ads. Even better. > [@featherlou](#): > > $19.99 (that’s about $15 CAD) USD and no ads. And I want a special title. Combine these ideas and it sounds like a plan. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252/40 "2007-11-30T17:33:11Z")
I wouldn’t mind banners if the board were free. I’m not up in arms about it, but I also don’t like paying and then having banners foisted on me anyway, though I can block them. So either banners and no pay, or pay and no banners. I particularly like the free to read and post, but pay to avoid ads idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banner-ads-or-subscriptions-a-poll/428252.md?page=3)