I'll curtail my communications about the GB as requested by anyone (especially Chance or Dragon

), but when I try and put myself in the place of a retailer, I'm not sure I would consider pulling my advertising -- here's why:
1) let's say I do, and others don't - then all those GAS-rabid potential customers (who are also participating in group buys) don't see my ads, but they do see my competitors' ads. Not the best move.
2) let's say I do, and collude with the other retailers (possibly in violation of antitrust laws, but, maybe not, and that's clearly a subject for another thread), and we all pull our ads. The bbs folds, or kicks off all the GB activity and gets the ads back. Another bbs opens that specializes in only GB activity, and immediately gets really busy. Do I want to advertise there? You bet I do. Remember that if I can get my ad in front of someone who has some money, wants what I'm selling, and is in a buying mood, that's exactly where I want it.
3) I sit back, and realize that all these GB'ers can probably now appreciate why I mark up prices -- when they order from me, they can order whenever they want, they get what they want quickly, they have a big selection, they get individual communication, etc., all the things that retailers do, and that Chance could never be expected to do (and those of us who expect it of him need to relax more

). Sure the buyers can take the "direct wholesale" GB route from time to time now, but I know that they'll still be coming back to me, provided I compete well with the other retailers.
I, for one, ordered from online retailers for the first time *after* I participated in the group buy, and have done so frequently since then. The GB keeps me coming back here, and this may be the only website ever where I click banner ads (and I do so because I'm often genuinely interested in what's being sold). Don't get me wrong - I run a site that depends largely on ad revenue, too, and the thought of those getting pulled gives the the chills. I just think what's going on here is good for everybody, including the retailers.