banner abominations

Hi!

Looks like we may get professional design for a new version of website, so I'd
like to raise the question about *the* most ugly thing on current one: banners.

1) Do we need these?
2) Do we need them in such a prominent place?

I think that the banner that now serves for open-source projects' promotion
should be replaced by some "Featured project" section, having a description and
a link to the project. This will IMHO work a *lot* better than current home-made
banners.

The mirror hosters' ads should be displayed on respective mirrors, just as this
is done f.e. on http://www.php.net/

The only problem is the sponsors' banners. Does anybody actually buy these, BTW?