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They do show stupid pictures ("Instead of an ad, here's...") instead of ads that steal my attention for no reason what so ever. The sole reason I'm using adblock. I do not want to, but those damn pictures are so damn annoying that I have no choice.

How about not show anything if you are not going to show an ad? Why steal my attention and bother me for no reason at all?

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Because reddit sometimes does show real ads in that space. And I think this feature was designed with 'fun' in mind -- it's lighthearted!

References: http://blog.reddit.com/2010/10/fun-in-sidebar.html and http://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/dqse4/fun_in_the_sideb...

What you consider "fun" and "lighthearted" I consider a waste of space and attention. Tell me how it is logically not.

Clearly you aren't their target market. The "instead of an ad, here's x" pictures have proven to be fairly popular.

Because having something "fun" and "lighthearted" in the space occasionally might drive higher cpm's when they actually sell ads for the space.

Their revenue comes from ads. They've never claimed otherwise, what makes you think they did?

The "fun" and "lighthearted" pictures are pointless and actively harmful. If you're going to show me ads, show me ads. But if you're not, don't. I'm willing to pay the price of being annoyed by advertising. The "instead of an ad" pictures generate no revenue for Reddit and they constantly waste my time and attention. They are purely a negative thing.

That's the most articulate way I can put my argument. If you still misunderstand, there's not much more that I can say.

Maybe some people actually enjoy the "instead of an ad" pictures. I absolutely hate them.

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