I feel as if I'm the only one who hasn't taken an instant dislike to this idea. Granted, it has a lot of issues that need to be addressed, such as people abusing the feature.

Because of the Watercooler and Movie Sign chat, I'm taking a more pragmatic approach to all of this, since I do have legitimate things I think could benefit from this type of advertising.

I hope that with time and discussion, Adam can alter this into something people are less hostile toward, but I will also accept if people just don't want it and it is discontinued.

Go check Timber's Petition, she has a lot of good ideas on how the feature can be changed to make everyone happy.