Tonda you have partially assumed that because there's less bitching on GFY about the SC skinning then it might not be as effective. I disagree.
The SC colors and scheme are much smoother and easier on the eyes; matter of fact people have been starting threads about how much they like the new look better than the normal GFY look and especially compared to the ADS skin. Let's face it, the ADS colors were... well... bright
As far as advertising on a board and the layout changes, does that make your $$ 'wasted' - well, depends on the layout. It might change so that you're in an even better position and more prominent. You can't just count on the fact that because the layout changes, then your position gets worse.
I'm with CJ - I honestly don't put much faith in normal top-of-the-page banner advertisements anymore. I know personally I *never* look at them. As a surfer I've been conditioned to ignore them completely and as an adult webmaster who can't get to anything I need to without scrolling past an entire top fold of banners, it's just habit to start rolling that scroll button as soon as the page starts to load.
CJ your idea about the in-your-face and fly-away ads is fantastic - egads that would be annoying as fuck but effective as well. Think also of the Yahoo Groups messages - every 5 messages or so that you click on, you get hit with a random FPA and a "continue on to the message" link. Can't ignore those either.
At this point I'd rather pay $2k for a few sig buttons than $2k for a top-of-the-page banner spot. Folks scroll past banners, the sig buttons get the advertisement down in the content area where the eyes are.
And no, I don't think skinning makes normal advertising any less effective. When the skinning is done, the normal banners are still there (as they are during the skinning) and like I said, I think normal banners lost their effectiveness long ago anyway.