My ATI video card installed its own hi-def sound drivers, effectively killing my EMU0404 soundcard. My computer had no sound for a long time and I finally got tired of the silence.
Today I searched Google for a solution and found that a lot of other people have the same problem. Following their tips, I found a solution.
Many hours later I checked a site of mine that I rarely update. Here's a screenshot of the site:
This site has nothing to do with sound - or the lack thereof - yet EVERY adsense ad on EVERY page that I looked at featured Adsense ads for audio drivers. Google just decided it was better for me to see ads for something I was searching for (and fixed) hours ago, than to show me ads relevant to the content of the site.
Wow.