As soon as you reach some nominal reputation level, the "pesky ad" disappears completely. I do not ever remember seeing it except at the very start before I reg

As soon as you reach some nominal reputation level, the "pesky ad" disappears completely. I do not ever remember seeing it except at the very start before I registered. The site is deliberately not optimized for the one-time users - because they only consume and not produce. The site is optimized for the long-time users who form the community that is producing the content attracting the visitors. I find it a very fair approach.