I think allowing ads to other steemers should actually be the default and I had no idea it wasn't allowed. Steem as a platform for marketing is a powerful concept and it allows a person to reach out and touch a broader audience than would otherwise be possible.
All of these "i need money for x", crowd fund me please type of posts are just ads. So I fail to see the difference between a company coming on and saying something like "The first 500 upvoters will get a free copy of our latest product", and "If I get 500 upvotes I will douse myself in water and record a live message".
It's six of one and half a dozen of the other.
I think I have a better and simpler proposal though, that makes it worthwhile for the community while not resorting to any sort of "trust person or group x to filter crap".
Ads should have an "I'm advertising" flag. When this is set the poster makes no money at all. Instead the funds raised are distributed to every person who upvoted and commented on a per capita instead of per capital basis.
This way if someone wants to promote something, he can make a post, give it a nice dash of cash (perhaps by paying a whale) and everyone who views the ad, comments on it and upvotes it gets a proportional share of the revenue, while the OP gets the exposure they are craving.
love it! Agree 100% - so sad none of the whales think I am worthy of a damn dime.
I can bring SO MUCH to steem with my brilliant mind, but I will not stay for long if I get to watch bimbo after bimbo get $7000 rewards. I will try a simple "introduce yourself - who am I" post and if this game is rigged, which I suspect it is - the people getting $7000 are working for steem - if that be so I am out. I won't stay long at all. I could be developing my own personal website, www.d3fc.me and www.freedomnetwork.me, two domains I own that pay bitcoin dividends. I will go back if I have to. My ideas and knowledge is legendary, and not worthy of being wasted.
I will come back with a team of 30,000 people and make sure all my posts get 30,000 upvotes instantly. This rigged game will be MINE.