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Totally! It's worthless from a brand association standpoint. Even a company like google states that the key factor in counting an ad impression (or anything else for that matter) is intent. It's all about intent. Not to say that you WANT to see ads when you visit a website, nobody does, but it's at least the expected exchange.

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Is there any such thing as a voluntary ad impression?

there are times when people will voluntarily look at adverts, but they tend to be in situations where you’re expecting them and they’re appropriate to the context. usually this isn’t online: film trailers at the cinema, properties in the window of an estate agent, classifieds at the back of a newspaper

No, not really. As much as the industry tries to tell itself that a well targeted ad delights the user, that just isn't the case. I think a little honesty would go a long way in the digital advertising world. (I use little to mean a lot)

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