Banner advertising on the board?

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Posted By: leon

Hey Folks,
I have been contemplating allowing paid banner advertising on the board for quite sometime so figure I will get more input on it in a thread. I have spoken to the previous moderators and many other prolific board members about it, recently. I haven't heard of any show stoppers so far. The reason to do it is because:

1. I have been asked by several companies if we would allow it.
2. It would be a little income.
3. I could give back some to the board and have a nice trivia quiz giveaway each month. The other previous moderators would get a small monetary gain.
4. It would add a little color to the board, which it could use.
5. It would allow advertisers, which we all already know, to advertise on a board dedicated to our niche, and remind us of their company's.

The biggest potential issue I have encountered is a perceived conflict of interest with advertisers. In other words if XYZ Auctions advertises then some folks, or myself, might not say what we feel. The only thing I could say to that is the contract that would be made up would state that this is an open board and anyone or any company is fair game. To that end any company advertising could cancel at anytime as well as I could cancel them at anytime for any, or no, reason...with prorated refunds given. It would be open ended in that respect. The company's I have spoken with understand the situation very well. Also, if it's tried and doesn't work I could cancel the advertising at anytime. I really don't want the board demeanor changing. With that said I will continue to be hard on anonymous posting, on purpose. All comments are welcome and I hope folks don't think this is the end of the world. It's simply a banner at the top that you can choose to click on or not. Most of the advertisers, if not all, would be well known to us already. There will still be no fees for the board and no fees for the BST area's. Thanks for ya'lls understanding in the matter...