There are a lot of dumb people who actually fall for the "Two free ipods" banners, you would be surprised. Personally I have never clicked and bought something, but I have been reminded of a product I was interested in or a movie/TV show I wanted to see.

I only ever click on the mosqito one to make it shut the F**k up!!!...i dont even let the page load before its closed though.

are these ads REALLY worth it though? For example, VGChartz has an ad below on the page, above, and to the left... and a lot of other places... do these ads give VGChartz that much money to pay the site? Is it worth it? Its not my business asking how much VGChartz makes off ads, but what do sites usually make on them? Anyone here ever created a website and have used ads to generate money?

I get about $100 every few months for http://hereandabove.com/ (More around Nov-Feb, and less during summer). The traffic to that site in very small compared to vgchartz, and only uses google ads. I think this sites rotates ad sources in the various spots, so you never know who the ad is coming from.

Not when you have Ad block plus enabled.

Yeah, that just breaks down the whole system makign it so that the web site either isn't maintaned and updated or is completely shut down due to the costs of keeping it running.  Is that what you want?

You have to admit the "ur dum click on this ad 2 see if u are better than bush at brain" does make you laugh.

Yes they work ... sometimes on many levels.

Right at this moment there is an advertizement for "Puzzle Pirates" at the top of my screen; personally, I'm not interested but I know of several people who would click on the banner in order to (at least) find out more about the game to see if they're interested.

Their second function (as has already been mentioned) is they increase awareness about a product (in this case a game). Over time you become familiar with these products even without using them, and this makes it much more likely that you'll notice when someone talks about it (which makes you more likely to use it).

The final reality is that people are indeed dumb enough to believe that a pill will 'magically' increase their penis size to 16 inches, regrow hair, help lose fat (well, the penis growth would have to come from some where) and keep away dragons; and dozens of other claims. "Street Smarts" are not just about the "Streets" ... people become aware of the dangers of the world they live in from making (or watching people make) mistakes and learning from them; people who have not used the internet for a long period of time,are dumb, or are naive are easily tricked because they do not understand how easy it is to make something look legitimate and do not have the instinct to know the difference between legitimate and fake sites.

See what just happened with the site?

That's why we need ads and banners.