Welcome!
I hate ads too. But if we are to exist we need to have them.
We transfer anywhere from 15 - 21 gigabytes of data a day. And premium bandwidth is not cheap.
If you look at the number of members -vs- the guests online you will notice there are 75% more guests viewing the site then registered members.
Since they are the ones using the majority of the resources, they are also the ones who see the majority of the ads.
We also offer an option for less then $20 a year which gets rid of all the ads except for our gold sponsors at the top.
All of this helps us pay our bills and keep the site open to all.
Welcome and enjoy!