Koogz, the flashing ads are only visible to non-paying members.
As far as "free" goes, nothing on the internet is free. You may not pay, but someone does. On Bladeforums, that has always been Spark, out of his own pocket.
Now we have paid memberships to help offset that cost, and Spark is working on setting up ads also. But the ads won't be visible to paying members, who already help with the bills.
Your choice, stay or go, pay or piggyback, we'll be glad to have you in either case.