If you've been a reader for a long enough time, I'm sure you've closed or scrolled past hundreds or thousands of ads on this site. And note that I said you've scrolled past them. You've not clicked on them. I know; I don't either.
As part of the first step in a larger redesign of the site, I am going to do the simple thing first and remove ads from the site.
Ads interrupt your experience on the site. I can't control with that much fidelity what you do or don't see, so it also might be completely experience-ruining to see some ads.