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===Should the wiki have ads?===

:The first sentence makes no sense, because it is an accidental leftover of a previous version of that post. But still, this rarity proves that it cannot possibly be making enough money for it to be worth keeping.{{:User:Matt/sig|~}} 23:13, January 15, 2009 (UTC)

::Yeah, I actually just saw them for the first time recently. The frequency with which they appear seems to be fluctuating ''(sometimes I'll see one in a day, sometimes ten)'', but they're definitely there. Also, Matt, you say that they can't be worth keeping, but... what harm could possibly come from it? I mean, removing them would remove another source of money; no matter how small that source may be, every little bit helps. I see no reason to remove them, personally. Not sure why you're so set on getting them removed. {{:User:Ando/sig}} 17:10, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

:::Thanks Ando, you made the point that I forgot to mention due to being irked. I don't see any benefit in actively seeking to reduce the revenue of the wiki. These links cause no know problems and can be easily disabled by any user who chooses to. {{:User:Adam/sig}} 19:01, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

I'm against it for several reasons.
#The ads were only supposed to be temporary when they were installed.
#Every ad on the wiki is one step closer to being Wikia.
#The ad service we're using has been rated as malicious and untrustworthy.<sup title="The text in the vicinity of this tag needs citation." class="noprint">&#91;[[Help:Citing Sources|''citation&nbsp;needed'']]&#93;</sup>
#It is an embarrassment having them in the first place.
#They are annoying to everyone. Meaning that it is not a good source of money.
#They do to cause problems. Mostly on Internet Explorer. Like it or not, that is what a majority of our viewers use.
Above all, I'm totally against compromising our morals just to make a quick buck.{{:User:Matt/sig|~}} 19:19, January 16, 2009 (UTC)

::::I have '''never seen the ads'''! I'm still looking, and I will let you know when I find one :P Though the green ones are '''very, very''' annoying however (in the midst of reading a page, you have a nice little pop-up that comes out of nowhere, asking you to buy something). I don't think we need them either. Think bout this: The majority of our members (except Adam) are under 21, and (hopefully!) don't have a credit card to buy something with. Also, despite that fact that we probably do have a few +21 readers, I'd have to say the lot of them are younger as well. So really, what purpose do these things have?{{:User:Mandi/sig}} 22:43, 16 January 2009

:::::That is a good point. In addition, these ads cannot be making enough money to be worth it. With these ads, we are basically targeting minors with ad scams. Remember people, that ads turn people off. We'd get much more people without them. On a similar note, the ads on Zelda Universe are okay. Because most are hidden for registered members. And most viewers of Zelda Universe are registered members on the forums. Here, on Zelda Wiki.org, I cannot see a way to hide these ads for members. And that doesn't matter because most people here are just viewers. One of the basics of economics is supply and demand.  So removing some of the more annoying ads on Zelda Universe will get more viewers and in turn might increase the revenue for the other ads. This is a simple concept, but most people fail to understand it. Wikia is a prime example of that. So optimizing the ads on Zelda Universe is a good thing to do. Regardless, the math behind the ads here clearly indicate that they don't make enough money to be worth keeping. Especially with the severe moral issues with it.{{:User:Matt/sig|~}} 23:13, January 16, 2009 (UTC)

#And I guess that the temporary period just hasn't ended yet.
#um what. Having ads = us being Wikia? Wikia also has a Zelda wiki and uses the MediaWiki software -- that's closer to us "being Wikia" than some ads are. Every site has ads, man! D:<
#Now THIS is actually a good point. I can agree with this point.
#An embarrassment? Who cares as long as it does what it's supposed to which is to make money??
#Annoying to everyone? As Adam mentioned, they ''can'' be disabled if the user so desires. And heck, apparently not everyone cares enough to do it. I haven't.
#They cause problems? I just pulled up Zelda Wiki on IE and noticed no issues whatsoever. Not sure what you mean here.
Also, do you have any source for your claims that we're merely making "a quick buck" or that there's no way we're making enough money with this to make it worth it? Jason's actually told me before that quite a bit of money comes from the ads. Not, like, enough to completely cover server costs or anything, but certainly quite a bit. So evidentally they do make a significantly larger amount than you're thinking. {{:User:Ando/sig}} 01:13, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

As far as them causing problems for IE users, I used IE for the longest time.....Never had an issue with it. But, they are annoying, and like I said about young users. I still don't believe they serve much purpose, but...maybe they bring in more money then what I was thinking >_>{{:User:Mandi/sig}} 02:05, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

:Again Ando, you've echoed more or less what I was thinking. Also, on point 4, I seriously cannot find any substantiating evidence regarding this so I have no idea what you mean. But I highly doubt that a platform used by [http://www.vibrantmedia.com/advertisers/in-text_advertising/faq.asp#5 advertisers such as these] is malicious or untrustworthy. Also, while Mandi's point on actual purchases is a good one, it's not really all that relevant. Vibrant Media receive revenue every time one of their ad is clicked and loads the ad itself (that's the point at which the advertiser pays them), so that's all they or we are interested in; that's our revenue. The only one actually interested in whether you buy anything is the company advertising the product! Heck, I may even go around clicking some ads just for the hell of it, and I suggest you all do too! Do your bit to ensure the wiki's continued financial viability! To be honest I'd much rather that we fund the wiki like this, rather than periodic "emergency-donation/begging drives", which just make me feel sad... {{:User:Adam/sig}} 09:06, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

::So, you click the ad...THAT'S IT!! Well then, I guess they're not as bad as I thought. What real harm could they do then?{{:User:Mandi/sig}} 10:34, 17 January 2009 (UTC)<br><small>Yes, I totally changed my opinion. But after reading this, doesn't seem like they're '''that''' bad.</small>

The green links don't even have anything to do with related products. I just held my mouse over a green Zelda, and it tries to get me to buy car insurance. And with domain, it tries to "help" me lower my cholesterol. I don't see why anyone would click these ads. It would be different if it was for LoZ stuff on e-Bay and such.  Also, they're quite annoying when trying to read an article. [[User:Alter|—Alter]] 05:34, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

You can turn them off here: [[http://www.vibrantmedia.com/whatisIntelliTXT.asp?ipid=9943&cc=us&server=zeldawiki.us.intellitxt.com]].--[[User:Link hero of light|Link hero of light]] 06:42, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

[[File:GreenADLinks.jpg|thumb|right]]Alter, it's funny you should mention eBay since, for me, 95% of the time these links point to eBay auctions for Zelda games/items (see example image from the links I got on this pages). Again, still not trying to prove anyone wrong here, it just seems weird that these ads work correctly for some and not others? In any case, as Lhol point out they can easily be disabled (you actually only need to click the "?" button in the corner of any popup, that will take you to the right page to do so). Also, for those who prefer not to use cookies and want a more permanent solution, you can actually disable them in your internet browser. For Internet Explorer 7 users, you can download and install the "IE7Pro" add-on [http://www.ie7pro.com/ad-blocker-intellitxt.html here]. For firefox users [http://ring.nict.go.jp/pub/net/www/mozilla/addons/10/adblock-0.5.3.043-fx+fl+mz+ns.xpi AdBlock] should do the trick, simply adding ''<nowiki>http://*.intellitxt.com*</nowiki>'' to the blocklist. While I haven't had time to test these yet, they are "one time only" solutions and should mean you never have to have your enjoyment of the wiki spoiled by these ads again, if you so wish. {{:User:Adam/sig}} 09:39, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

lol Really, I've still yet to see an ad for e-Bay. Worked like a charm. Thanks Adam![[User:Alter|—Alter]] 06:21, 28 January 2009 (UTC)