# I pit the assholes who are depriving the SDMB of revenue **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2016, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350 "2016-12-22T09:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350/41 "2016-12-23T18:36:17Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve seen you complain about this multiple times in different threads. > > Here’s a thought: Paypal that person the $15. Mission accomplished. > > Except that then you wouldn’t be able to bemoan your powerlessness in helping them. > mmm The few gift subs that I gave were anonymous. Much more fun. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350/42 "2016-12-23T19:09:28Z")
Guilting people to pay an annual fee or unblock trashy virus-laden ads is pointless, IMO. Message boards just don’t make sense as a for-profit endeavor, particularly not ones run by amateurs and left on autopilot. Even the best ones are never going to make much money, if they make any at all, because there are simply too many free alternatives competing for people’s time and attention. It’s like trying to get rich off a $50 calculator app you had a friend write for you in 2004. Selling a simple app for $1 is hard enough when the App Store has twenty better free ones, trying to sell one an outdated one for way above market rate is impossible. Friend loyalty and word of mouth may sell you a few copies, but there’s no path beyond that. Don’t get me wrong, as a message board this is still one of the better ones. As a source of revenue, though, it’s pretty hopeless. ---
**Author:** ![Calico\_Jack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calico_jack/32/7320_2.png) [@Calico\_Jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calico_Jack)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350/43 "2016-12-23T19:16:28Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I respect that web sites which provide content for free need advertising in order to keep themselves afloat. For the longest time, I was a hold-out against using ad blockers because I felt that it was right to put up with the annoyance if this is how the providers of content I wanted to see expected to make their money. > > But tonight, the line has been crossed. Over the last few weeks, despite my using a paid-for anti-virus program (AVG) and frequent scans with MalwareBytes, my browser has several times been hijacked to scam sites, the kind that pop up a dialog box with a number to call. It finally dawned on me that this has only been happening from SDMB pages, and only since they started increasing the ad saturation of the pages…first it was a strip along the bottom, then more recently they added one on the right side of the page. I’m almost certain it’s scripts within those ads that are making that happen, and I’m putting that to the test by finally installing AdBlocker. > > \*\*So a hearty fuck you to the assholes who are running these scams to get gullible people to believe that they have to call your damned number to fix their computer. \*\* Are you sure that was from SMDB, not from a torrent or warez site? Only time I got a popup like that was from visiting “Kick Ass Torrents”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350/44 "2016-12-24T03:10:29Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The few gift subs that I gave were anonymous. Much more fun. I would agree with that. But **bobot** has said that he feels badly because he promised this person he would pay for their membership (and now there is no earthly way he can keep his promise). mmm ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350/45 "2016-12-24T03:21:21Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ve seen you complain about this multiple times in different threads. > > Here’s a thought: Paypal that person the $15. Mission accomplished. > > Except that then you wouldn’t be able to bemoan your powerlessness in helping them. > mmm I’m not complaining. I only mentioned it. Do you think it didn’t occur to me to give the person the money? Do you think the person and I didn’t discuss that? I’ve really only mentioned this a few times, I’m alarmed that you remember it. I’m not “bemoaning my powerlessness in helping them”. I’m mentioning that it would be a swell idea if one person could simply pay for another’s membership. Thanks for your thought, it was quite original. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-assholes-who-are-depriving-the-sdmb-of-revenue/775350.md?page=2)