I agree that ad revenue seems too irrelevant for us to pursue that avenue as a community. Many of us came here because there are no ads and Steemit is a safe place to discus ideas.
Supporting the work of the promo-Steem team that @stephenkendal is leading seems like a logical first step.
I discuss these ideas in a post:
https://steemit.com/steemit/@lydon.sipe/a-response-to-knircky-should-steemit-advertise-43aebe554b5b
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