Well, weve always had ads. Since we are not the official LP Forums and our owner is not an endless source of cash, ads are needed to help pay for the upkeep of the site. The domain, the hosting space, that kind of stuff. Ads can also change depending on which ones pay out the most for each click that one recieves. More clicks = More cash for the owner to put into the upkeep of the site. So click the ads when you can.
Now the ads have not always been a big box in the first post like they are currently. They used to be in the sig of the 1st and 11th post on the page. Before that when Qwest was the owner, they were at the top of the page and below the first post. And even before that when ATLien was the owner, they were at the top and bottem of the page. It all really depends on where the owner wants to put them, depending on where they think that the ads will get the most clicks.
Coredump (our resident owner) is currently experimenting with placement of the ads, so they may move around.
Hope that helps. :thumbsup: