@Ryan - Because of the visual changes that have occurred and the process of actually getting a key to get Akismet to work people are beginning to think that Akismet is a paid service only and has ditched the free option. That's why I decided to write this post to figure out if the service was still free, which it is, for a select few.

As mentioned by someone else, I think they are selecting the option that states that you have a few ads on the site and are making money meaning you have to pay $5.00 a month to Akismet. This amount is the one I see mentioned all the time when referencing that Akismet is no longer free.