3% is good but fairly common conversion rate for an ad. Not really groundbreaking nor newsworthy.

But why it's on HN then? The answer - you are the product and HN is a marketplace. This makes HN kind of spoiled place to be at, as it amplifies the illusion of "good things" you "must have" or "participate in".

I really miss the golden era of BYTE magazine in the 80s. That was a classy act. But what we have now is a noisy reactor, where nearly everything is worthless but fuels illusion and false hopes. We give in without even considering an evident fact that we are being manipulated for cheap.

Yes, I may sound too dark, but then let's not call HN "a community". This a commercial enterprise with its own interests under the hood. Not the neutral place for intellectual discussions as it tries to appear.