Big thanks to the company behind one commercial alternative to the IzPack Java software installer for helping us by targeting our website with big ads for several days :-)

This is where Google Adsense introduces a disruptive model for open source projects. Indeed, most open source projects do not get any fundings at all. By introducing Adsense ads, projects can get a (little) source of funding to cover server / domain name expenses, distribute bounties[1] to implement features, and more generally, the truth is that it encourages project founders to keep working on the project and put quality content on their websites.

The really funny thing is that most of the time ads are paid by commercial / closed source alternatives to the project. Hence, when a visitor gets to know about such a competitor[2] from ads on your website, you get money. Of course, the visitor could have know about this alternative by doing a web search. One should not forget that in the end of the day, the visitor will opt for what is best for him, be it your project or the alternative he has know about by an ad on your website. Your commercial competition is then funding your own project, and to my very best knowledge this is truly disruptive, as I don't know many fields where big players fund small players that deliver similar products.

Notes

[1] BTW I might offer a (small) bounty out of ads for a feature request on IzPack...

[2] It is not really competition since going open source implies being on a different model.