Good riddance! Apart from ads or paid promotion the only solution is pay-to-play. Reality is setting in and speculative money is dwindling. It's time for Steem to start earning!

If advertising is the only solution to steemit's problems then steemit will have a problem, as they currently do, retaining users. If Steemit still dreams of being something new in the world of social media then they must not repeat the problems of the current social media.

For myself, like I said, if they bring advertisements on board then odds are very likely I will leave and go elsewhere.

There are billions of social media users out there who don't mind ads at all. Have you ever read the Steem white paper? The value proposition of Steem is to get as many of those people to come on board or to consume the content as possible.

If the Steem community rejects paid promotion, then the platform is certain to die.