# Soooo... do you want me to pay or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640 "2009-01-10T05:04:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/1 "2009-01-10T05:04:57Z")
I recall when they discussed going to the ad format that you could still pay the membership and not see the ads, but they would rather that we didn’t because they would get more revenue from the ads than from our membership fees, so I let my fees lapse. Was that the right move? I don’t particularly like being a guest. Is this because I let it lapse or a bug like with the charter members? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/2 "2009-01-10T05:29:16Z")
[Ed posted about this recently over here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10638328#post10638328), if you’re wondering about what it means for the site. But, uh, you’re the poster, so do what _you_ want. If you’re missing some of the features you can’t use, get them back. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/3 "2009-01-10T18:47:36Z")
OK thanks. Will the posts I made as a guest count towards my total when I re-up? ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/4 "2009-01-10T19:08:44Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Ed posted about this recently over here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10638328#post10638328), if you’re wondering about what it means for the site. But, uh, you’re the poster, so do what _you_ want. If you’re missing some of the features you can’t use, get them back. I meant to ask this at the time: what are ad _impressions_? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/5 "2009-01-10T22:34:56Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > I meant to ask this at the time: what are ad _impressions_? Ads seen, as opposed to ads clicked on. If you open a page and see one advertisement, that’s one impression. That’s if I’m remembering right, anyway. > [@HoboStew](#): > > OK thanks. Will the posts I made as a guest count towards my total when I re-up? Yes. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/6 "2009-01-10T22:50:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ads seen, as opposed to ads clicked on. If you open a page and see one advertisement, that’s one impression. That’s if I’m remembering right, anyway. > Yes. Are guest still due to get location fields displayed and will they ever have visible post counts? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/7 "2009-01-10T22:51:34Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Are guest still due to get location fields displayed and will they ever have visible post counts? I’d leave that to Ed or Jerry, in the upgrades thread. I don’t remember the status of that one. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/8 "2009-01-10T23:39:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’d leave that to Ed or Jerry, in the upgrades thread. I don’t remember the status of that one. OK, it was worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/9 "2009-01-11T01:27:01Z")
Personally, I don’t think Guests should get locations or post counts. If the revenue from subs helps the Boards stay afloat, then it makes sense to have some non-essential but nice-to-have features that are only available to paying members. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/10 "2009-01-11T02:50:19Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Are guest still due to get location fields displayed and will they ever have visible post counts? Jerry was of the view that, till ad revenue kicks in (any day now, I’m sure), we should give people some modest incentive to subscribe. So no guest post counts and location for now. Or profile pix either. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soooo-do-you-want-me-to-pay-or-not/480640/11 "2009-01-11T14:38:04Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Jerry was of the view that, till ad revenue kicks in (any day now, I’m sure), we should give people some modest incentive to subscribe. So no guest post counts and location for now. Or profile pix either. Thank you for answering Ed and that makes sense.