A simple poll to gauge how many people use guest ads and to what degree.

I use guest ads a lot. Usually I go through to see if the title appeals to me (or the topic description) and then read the plots and then go to the board. I probably use them more than affiliates...but I'm not sure. I put 6+ because they have been what I use.

If I get really bored--or procrastinating--I'll go search through the ads. I have joined quite a few boards this way. I voted 3-5, though I'm not entirely sure about the number.

I've never really joined from a guest ad. I usually join sites run by people I respect. I take a lot of prodding to actually join a site.

I almost voted never, then I thought waayyyyy back to 4 years ago. I joined my first IF board and it was kind of dead. I looked around and saw an ad to another IF board there, and I don't know if it was a guest that posted it or not, but I went there, joined up, and it began my years long obsession with forum RP. :D Since then I haven't joined any other sites from guest advertising. I might have if I hadn't found the site I did, it was a keeper and I was totally satisfied with it. I still go there!

Not counting the RPs I've heard of because they were owned by a friend, I've joined all my sites (6+) through guest advertisements.

I do this all the time. Next to directories, guest ads are some of the best places to find new sites. Normally if I click on a site from RPG-D or something, and I decide I don't like the board, I go down to their guest ads and go through a couple of those. I'm not currently part of any RPGs I found through guest ads, but a large number of past ones were discovered through them.

Minus the first site I ever joined, that is how I became a member of other sites. I like seeing the guest adverts because sometimes I join them and am surprised to see that a site that I wouldn’t normally think of joining is a great fit for me.
Guest adverts are really the main reason I branched out of Harry Potter sites, though they are my one true love.

Recently I can only remember finding a couple boards through an advert, but others I've joined are so old I can't even remember how I found them. Probably Google. I don't usually look through ads except when I'm advertising myself, but occasionally one does catch my eye.

It was between 1-2 for me but I voted for 1. I surf ads once in awhile but will rarely commit to a board because I'm overly picky.

Actually, I find most of my sites by guest advertising. But I'm not on that many sites, so three to five for me.

I've joined a few sites by guest adverts. I'm kinda split. Sometimes I join a site because someone I know mentioned it to me, other times I join from looking through affiliates, other times by guest ads... Really, I kinda just do whatever, I guess. If I need a site and don't have a friend wheedling me to join, that's when I go for the ads. *Shrug*

I just realised I never responded to this, just voted.

I've been using guest advertisements to find games since I was a munchkin. It's convenient, and I loved reading what people came up with, how they could reel me into the site.

I myself have not yet used a directory to find a game, even though my CrazyEgg tells me that roughly half my visits come from this site. Even when I joined a site from a frequent poster here, I never actually visited the site until I came across an advert for it. Then I looked around, then I went to RPG D to see the form on it, then I browsed some more and kept it for a rainy day.

I ALWAYS check out guest adds, but me joining them well... depends on a few things. Mostly the subject, layout and activity. I voted 3-5.

i only ever use guest ads, i believe. sometimes i'll come here or to pc to check out theres, but other than that, it's only the guest ads from the sites i'm on that i use. i put 6+ because of that. i'm not on 6+ boards, but in the whole time of me roleplaying, there have definitely been more than six i've gotten from guest ads.

I've joined two, but I definitely look at sites and have bookmarked some to possibly join in the future that I've found through ads. I run the advertising board at a couple sites though, and therefore end up visiting a LOT of sites. On sites where I've just been a member and wasn't in charge of actually sorting through the ads, I've never even really looked at the guest ads.

I'm weird xD I find lately that the plots on adverts have become really long, and I don't like reading ones that are more than two paragraphs, really.. So when I'm browsing through guests advertisements I really only look for names and genres that I recognise or like. For example, if I see a marauder site, I usually always click the link, because I'm a nosey bum and want to see how other people play Andromeda, of if the site is named after a Smiths/Regina Spektor/whatever else song, I'll click.. But I don't actually read the plot until I've checked out activity, and ease of access and all that other stuff that makes a site that much more special.

It's rare I'll actually join a site from ads though, the majority of sites I join are run by my mates. A site has to be super special and unique, and fun looking, for me to join otherwise xD

To me it just depends on what the add is for.

I've joined 2 sites through guest advertising; I didn't stay on either of them for that long as they had almost no members and were nearly dead.
I advertise a fair bit through guest advertising, and a fair few people have joined because of it.

Never joined a site based on a guest ad.

Unless its a site run by someone i know or someone bullied me into joining a site they were on that's how I find all of my sites by guest advertising. So i put 6+

2 years ago I googled "create your own naruto character" from there I went to several RP sites and eventually found the right one. Now I am 2nd in command admin and running the site today.