traveltoomuch: you are a person after my own heart. I am just as suspicious of motives as you are, it seems. But no, the programs do not pay us and, as unbelievable as it may seem, we are not maintaining FlyerTalk as a means of providing information to them. We sell advertising on our site, like many sites, though not on FlyerTalk directly. And as for the comment that programs are listening for comments that affect the bottom line: I KNOW they're watching and listening, but I doubt they take much notice.
If anyone has evidence to the contrary, it would be interesting to see it.