thanks. what were you advertising? http://hangwith.me? And what kinds of threads - are you posting links on forums?
I don't do it very often. Only when I think the link and comment in appropriate and genuine to the thread. However, when I do and, I think, because the link it relative to the OP I always get amazing click-throughs. Again, the key is being genuine and relative to the thread. I've probably generated 20k+ site visits and well over 1k signups from reddit alone from maybe 3-4 comments posted in relavant threads.
There really is something to say for finding, building and participating in community.