To meet mounting operating expenses, and to keep the site free, Refdesk now uses family friendly ads that appear in the background - one ad per user per day. These ads do not interfere with your access to any Refdesk content and should not be confused with pop-up ads that do block content. Refdesk allows no pop-up advertising of any kind to appear on the site. (Some ISPs like Earthlink and AOL display background ads as pop-ups, even though they are not pop-ups).

If you would prefer not seeing these new background ads, two types of resources are available: Ad Blockers and Ad Filters. You may also choose to 'opt-out' of advertising campaigns.

Your donations help keep Refdesk free and on the Internet. Thank you! However, as more and more people use Refdesk everyday, current operating/maintenance costs exceed your generous contributions, creating a revenue gap. Earnings from background ads and from banner ads help fill this gap.

I suggest you try these free browsers that all automatically block pop-up ads: Avant - Firefox - Mozilla - Opera - Netscape

The Google Toolbar now blocks and eliminates pop-up ads as does the AltaVista Toolbar and the Alexa Toolbar. These toolbars are free.

Thank you for making Refdesk one of the most popular user supported, grassroots sites on the Internet.

Your comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated.