I own The Vette Barn, and there's (at least) 100 plus folks wandering around the internet telling anyone who will listen how much The Vette Barn sucks.
Shit happens, can't please everyone.
As to your general point, page ads are a tiny supplement to IB's overall revenue stream. They exist simply because some desk jockey feels an annoyance that generates a penny or two daily is preferable to a blank space that has zero potential of earning anything.
On a single website, that difference is negligible, but when you host hundreds of websites consisting of thousands of forums, and billions of pages...Those pennies do tend to add up, thus the implementation of them.
Supporting vendors are BY FAR CF's bread and butter, and they only serve the generational sections. CF would love for nothing more than to eliminate OT/PR&C sections entirely, and they have flat-out expressed that desire numerous times over the years.
They may see a fair amount of traffic, but in the grand scheme of things, those sections are loss leaders that generate their corporate overlord a minuscule amount of income.
