Argue/Debate in the PIT.
This is strictly a poll.
Just so TPTB know how bad of a problem they might be looking at I’d like to see how many people are really thinking of leaving if the current status quo remains i.e. banner ads for paying members.
I’ve said I may leave before and didn’t. I’ve slept on it and am 100%.
I’m leaving if they stay.
I thought the banner ads were just appearing because of a software bug.
In any case, using Firefox with ad block and flash block, the banner ads don’t show up at all. Until I read through the earlier Pit thread, I had no idea what people were complaining about.
That said, no, I wouldn’t leave over banner ads, even if I could see them.
I’ve never seen them, so I think it would be presumptuous of me to leave on their basis.
Also a Firefox user so it makes no difference. I don’t know which sites have ads.
Yes, I will leave if it turns out banner ads for members are permanent.
I’m blocking them as well.
It’s more of a principle thing really. They’ve just expected me to bend over and take it one too many times. I’ll read till the place is no more but they won’t get my money.
The ads are blocked. I blocked the Google ads when they came in too, so I’m not fussed enough to protest, boycott, leave, etc.
ads are a low level irritant, but I won’t leave over them.
Doesn’t bother me. I have a mental editing routine in place where advertising is concerned. Particularly on the internet.
I’ve got Firefox/AdBlock too, but it always seems like sooner or later the advertising finds a way around it.
Ugh. It’s just one more battle I’d rather not take part in, and if the advertising is permanent, I probably would not leave Never To Return, but I definitely would not hang around as much.
Having the ads there really detracts from the whole messageboard ethos that I’ve come to associate with the SDMB …the free exchange of news, information and ideas between individuals of all colours, nationalities and creeds.
Over my years here, I’ve come to regard this ‘place’ as a sort of corner bar: I wander in, see some familiar faces, plonk down and order a drink, then meander around to meet some new folk and get into arguments with old foes. 
But having those blasted ads makes it feel like I’m just a pawn now. It’s not ‘my’ community anymore, it’s a commercial enterprise that doesn’t give a damned shit about thie individuals here. Sure, it was always an ‘enterprise’ especially since the P2P changes, but there was never that constant reminder at the top of the page. Now there is an acute awareness of our individual (and communal) insignificance.
My re-up time won’t happen until next year, and I’ll be interested to see if my reaction changes over that time. I somehow doubt it will, so you may not see my ever-cheerful and never-sarcastic words again after that.
I never considered it until now. I’m still really mad and I try not to act or commit to act when in this state.
I think we should establish a new board somewhere else. This board doesn’t have all that much to do with Cecil Adams, anyway.
I won’t leave so long as I can reliably block the ads using firefox ad-block. But this whole thing is a piece of crap decision.
They’re blocked, so I didn’t even know there were any.
I sure wouldn’t leave because of it, though.
Opera user (at home at any rate) so I don’t normally see them.
I think I’d probably ignore them, but then I’m not exactly a prolific poster anyway - It would be a bit disappointing, and there are other ways to earn money from boards though.
Firefox/Adblock too. Just added “servedby” to my “block” list.
Don’t care really.
I think the new acquirers of the Chicago Reader will run the place into the ground, to be honest, but I don’t mind enjoying it until they do.
I’m torn. As you may have guessed from my postcount, I kinda love this place. But as I said elsewhere, I love it because of the same people who are likely to disappear as a result of this - the older folks, the hotheads and the passionate people. As well, the newbies - I see it turning off a lot of the more interesting guests and not the asshats.
Since you asked “who’s *thinking *of leaving,” then that’s definitely me. I probably won’t commit to that until/unless the banner ads or something equally obnoxious is going on when my renewal comes up in August. This also gives me time to see who’s gone after the large renewal in April when the Charter Members are up.
And yes, I’m blocking them and it seems more or less like it’s working now (it wasn’t yesterday, despite AdBlock and several tips from other users), but it’s a combination of “the principle of the thing” and the long term effects I fear it will have on other users and the board climate in general.
I’ll stay.
I’ll stay but be hating the ads greatly.
I have never seen any advertisements on this site and I am an IE user. They can’t be that hard to block if one does not want to see them.