In the past there was a large JapanesePod101 banner at the top of the page, which was only seen by guests (unregistered visitors), most of which come from Google searches.

Advertisers often prefer more unique visitors over "returning" (ie. members), since they will get more visits that way. So it was convenient to limit advertising to Google searches/unregistered visitors, and keep the layout relatively clear for members.

That said, I wanted to split this banner in three standard smaller "square" ad zones so that I could find more sponsors. Once in a while I get a request for advertising on the main site, but often there is not enough space. There are also some sponsors that would do better on the forum I think.

Once I created that layout, I thought there was enough space to allow at least one to be shown to everyone. Even if you aren't interested in it, it creates more pageviews and this makes it more attractive to potential sponsors.

So anyway, keep in mind I'm just experimenting. Don't worry I'm not going to plaster ads everywhere. I also ask advertisers to avoid annoying/flashing images.

Those of you who really don't like ads already know how to turn them off I'm sure