I know that SummitPost earns revenue by placing ads on the pages I read, and I accept that. I understand that this is part of enjoying a "free" service.
Us users must mind our manners when posting in the forums, and we must keep our audience in mind when writing articles and other submissions.
In the same way, advertisers must remain sensitive to the users' enjoyment of the SP pages, when designing their ads to catch our attention.
My Firefox browser allows me to install "Adblock Plus", an add-on that can filter any image or frame from any web page that I download.
When I add a URL to Adblock's list, I still see the empty rectangle, but I am no longer aware of what was there.
I have the power to block any ad from my browser, any time, at will.
I have not done so.
Until today:
1. There's a talking video embedded in the bottom-right corner of page 1 (I think): the URL is http://c3.openx.org/ ...
2. While I'm at it, I've also blocked rhyang's red-and-purple blob: his URL is http://i42.tinypic.com/ ...
I would not have noticed the video except for the sound-track. Now it's gone!