Interesting post @deserttree. I guess it will be inevitable that advertisers/ments will find their way into steemit in one way or another. But I am not sure most steemians will want it.

For me, and I expect many others, one of the great attractions of steemit is the lack of advertising.

I guess marketing companies, as you say, will start setting up accounts and powering up big time. For larger brands the costs to whale up will be small change for their advertising budgets.

But how will that affect steemit when the platform becomes awash with pods of branded whales each voting up their posts to promote their message / latest product etc.

What will the trending page look like then? Even @jerrybanfield, @papa-pepper, @sweetsssj & co will have trouble holding their top spots on the trending page when the big boys of the corporate advertising world find their way into the steemit ocean...

Just think of the prizes that might be on offer in the steemit competitions then 🏆 🎁 🌈