[Swamp Puppy]

just noticing a few of the advertisements across the top of the main page the last few days..

"up to 320 acres of land for as little as $5.00 an acre!! send us $29.95 for a book to tell you how!!"

"earn $300.00 taking surveys on your computer!! send $69.95 to enroll in our program (the 70 bucks is just to show your serious) Hurry!! entries must be received by 12:00pm EST on Tuesday March 15th!!" (though i'll bet it is still there tomorrow...with a new HURRY date.)

are these people/companies our "sponsors" ?

 

[Swamp Puppy]

just spent 40 minutes "investigating" another one i saw up there.

"$500 free hunting supplies"

ok...so i clicked on it. you get a choice of a bunch of gift cards (no hunting stores that i saw. costco was about the closest thing to an outdoors store on the list.) then, you spend 30 minutes taking a "survey" in order to qualify for your card..which, btw, is only for $250..not $500. the "survey" is basically just a bunch of offers to try to scam you more.

at the end of the "survey" you are then required to participate in two scams..i mean, ehem, "offers" in order to complete your order and get your gift card.

ok..guess what. i played along and bought into 2 of their scams...and guess what? somehow or another i still didn't qualify for the card. i DID qualify to participate in another "survey" promising more "free" gifts and prizes.

ahhh...what i do in the name of "science". lol.

 

[Swamp Puppy]

actually, i think i have this figured out. simple now that i think about it. alot of forum providers will allow a cost reduction if you have a banner with general or target specific ads at the top of the page.

so, while we have a few "official" sponsors, the costs are also reduced and/or covered with the addition of the ads at the top of the site.

depending on where the admins are getting the sites server space and software....they can choose different options to lower the costs involved. the more public advertising that is allowed, the less they have to pay. so, on a site with a smaller member base such as this one, having the ads at the top of the page helps reduce the costs to a managable level.

ta daaaa!!!