Profitable forums, is it really possible?

We all know how much the owner of DP makes, but most of my encounters of large forum owners, most of them struggle to barely pay the server costs for their forums using Adsense of other similar programs.

Forums use terribly high amounts of bandwidth and thus cost a lot of money to host, is it really possible to make a significantly profitable forum?

I am skeptical. How many are doing it?

 

Just like with websites you need the right type of forum. Some niche forums can bring in tons of money...seen for example poker forums with crazy revenue considering their low traffic.

Other forums can be huge but struggle to make a few bucks a day.

 

Why? Differences in keyword value or placement of ads?

I wonder why some forum owners rake it in and others struggle.

 

If using AdSense then one reason can be difference in keywords but it's more just that different niches means different type of traffic and different possibilities to monetize.

Some forums can sell banner spots for several hundred dollars a month, while another forum with more traffic strugge to sell the same spot for $20.

For example are the visitors coming to your forum coming there just to waste time chatting with friends or are they coming there to find information about some product they are looking to buy? People who are looking to buy things are, naturally, easier to make money on.

 

I need this infomation aswell. Well, The only way to make money on a forum in my eyes is adsence or another type of programn like that, Or selling advertising space. Which wouldnt mke you a huge amount anyway.

 

Do you already own a forum? If so, how big is it?