Decided to peek at my settings for the first time in a loooong time. Seems I have been using the 'ads in header' option, which works best for me. The ads on the side option made the board scrunched up and had my board list running down the left side. I had no idea ads within the posts/topics was an option and good lord whoever came up with that should be shot.
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There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out