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You know....if the banner ads "aren't working" (as mentioned in the explination) because nobody is clicking them, just tell me...eh?
I'd spend a good minute or two a day haplessly clicking sponsor links if neo came out and said "we need the help" over messing with the banners more. I spend more time doing just that to get a useless omelette, and a jelly a day....
I'd do it.
Really, I would.
I'd click on sponsors for a few minutes every day if it ment keeping the site free and not having to resort to huge, troublesome, slow-loading banners.
I would as well. I'm also fairly certain that although a large sum is paid by sponsors merely for having the ad space, Neopets can charge more if the click through rate increases. By that same token, as some else mentioned, if the sponsors are paying gobs of moeny for advertising and no one is clicking the ads or blocking them entirely, they'll find someplace else to advertise. Either way, I don't think this is anything more than a short term solution to the problem.
I also agree that Neopets needs to offer paid premium services, such as ad blocking only, that don't come bundled and require you to switch your ISP. I pay for unlimited yearly access and even if I wanted to switch I wouldn't get my $200 deposit refunded. I can easily spend $20 on a whim for a pizza, and wouldn't think it unreasonable to spend it just to get rid of ads altogether. I also think they need to reevaluate their "Shiny, faster, More, more, more!" policy when it comes to updates. I could live with the news being updated twice a week if that meant they were spending the rest of their time following up with user support.
If the site support wasn't so awful, and had been more forthcoming with EVERYTHING over the past five years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy overpriced stuffed animals and dying TCG. Making users happy by listening to and respecting their opinions is the key to acquiring and maintaining long-term devoted players and staying alive. I don't know what's going on inside the company, but it certainly seems like Doug Dohring only wants to make as much money as he can before ditching Neopets for some other quick cash project. :-/