[Useless]

First of all, I've never heard of not linking to hardcore sponsors from your warning page. What do you think you are linking to on your own pages? Many would simply ask to not use hardcore images on the warning page because they defeat the purpose of the warning. The very first person to suggest that you use sponsor banners on your warning page appears to run Link Fabulous - a big link list that has been around for quite awhile.

I'm assuming you have looked at and studied other people's free sites. You should have noticed that everyone promotes their sponsors from every possible position.

Yes, you should consider doing all you can to please the link list owners, but what is the point of a top position if you don't make your site sell? That's just a waste of bandwidth. Heck, there are a few link lists that will reject you for wasting yours and the sponsor's time by not marketing correctly.