I went REALLY skeptical into reading this article, yet one line switched me almost 180º
Advertisers will only be able to advertise links to other Steem blockchain posts.
This would solve for the most part the issue of ads being just obnoxious for most users, and really irelevant, however much effort may be put into targeting and profiling efforts.
Yes, I can see a scenario where adverstising, rather than being the classical relationship of a company shoving bogus product into user's mouth, would instead be more of a cross-promotion between various steem users.
Yes, companies can and will create bland steemit posts to which they will redirect through ads, but those posts tend to die naturally on this platform from what I saw.
And as long as the platform is not in a conflict of interest (i.e. having to ensure neutrality, but relying on advertisers for income) it shouldn't be much of a problem, any imbalance would sort itself out. And since blockchain is not a company, I expect to have this risk minimized.
Yes, I would find it interesting to see an ad system implemented, but only in the way described above, as a cross-posts, cross-author promotion, thus making the life better also for the reader, as he may get links to other relevant posts.