Oh yes they did
This ad-related news has been around a couple of weeks, but for the record: ohnotheydidnt has become an officialish LJ community, with one of the maintainers becoming LJ staff. This also means that ohnotheydidnt now shows ads.
New moderator brenden explains:
I know this will probably not even be SEEN, but when I was approached last month - it was IMPLIED that LJ owned ONTD. Obviously LJ isn't that evil as to stage a takeover, but advertising and supporting a site of this size is not something $5 for a paid account every dozen members can support, so I understand. I thought it was best that I and the other mods get on board with this movement instead of having changes that NOBODY would like. For all I know, if I didn't fight for this place and given up, there'd have been ads months ago and they'd be just as obnoxious and intrusive as every other gossip blog out there.
I can honestly say that LJ and myself are NOT in it solely to make a profit. I'm not saying profits won't be made, but I'm here to make sure it's not just making LJ rich - I know that ONTD is what it is because of everyone here. I have plans to give back, to do charity, to do shit for everyone. If you don't believe me or don't like it, I can't force anyone to stay here and participate.
I just want everyone to be happy and that's not possible. I just hope people understand that this IS honestly for the best. It really is, there are so many worse possibilities that could have come out of this without our participation and I don't think a lot of people understand that.
bob80 wonders:
What I want to know is that now that ONTD has ads and money is going to be made, will sources used for posts become pissed that they aren't getting paid for their story while ONTD is making money through ads? Seems like the way ONTD was able to get away with posting stories and using pictures from other sources was that ONTD wasn't making anyone any money. Now it is with these ads, so this concerns me that ONTD will be shut down if other sites want to be compensated for the use of their shit. Maybe I'm missing something though.