Ads on Yahoo groups

They've gotten clever. Play a loud noise every n seconds,
and rats eventually learn to ignore it. Play the noise at
random intervals, and over time rats show abnormal behavior
indicative of high stress. Now, ads may or may not stress
you out as much as loud noise, but I'd interpret this result
by saying that random stimuli are harder to ignore.

There are many takes on the advertising-supported issue.
I'm recommending: NEVER click on these ads. If you see
something you want, open a new window and get it through
Google.

It's misleading to say that "Yahoo groups is an advertiser
supported service." They are x thousand people using this
service. It isn't going away. How much of your time have
you spent clicking through ads lately (how much network
bandwidth have you invested in downloading them)? Thirty
seconds -- a minute? How much do you get paid for your
time (how much would you charge if someone wanted you to
look at ads for an hour)? How much could it possibly cost
to run this service (keep in mind they provide no on-line
support)? Do the math. The service isn't going anywhere.

-Carl