Re: I'll do them one better...
@RedneckMother
Like most people, I dislike ads. But I also like free, quality content. So that's a quandary because ad revenue is a key part of such sites and I do want to support websites that I like and that are useful (or entertaining) to me.
BUT, some things are non-negotiable for me and they are things like flash-based ads, pop-ups and anything that takes over the browsing experience or causes content to jump about the page as the ads load, slowing it down and disrupting everything.
Very few sites provide content that one cannot get elsewhere and if it came to a situation where my only option was to accept intrusive ads or not view the content, it would be goodbye from me.
If the words being spoken are honest and the result of some real soul-searching* then I think they've started on the right path. People may choose not to believe them and that is fine - I am skeptical myself. But hopefully people encourage them in this endeavour rather than criticise them. After all, we - the consumers/users/viewers/contributors/customers - are the ones who have spoken and attempted to send the message that we will accept sensible, unobtrusive ads but they have themselves to blame for everyone using ad blockers.
It seems that they have heard us. So let's remain skeptical by all means but let's also applaud them for admitting that they have dug this hole for themselves by not respecting users.
Hopefully they have come to the understanding that the previous view that the important relationship was between sites and advertisers misses a crucial stakeholder: the visitors, and you can't just ignore them and still expect it all to be fine.
* - Or whatever passes for a soul in advertisers.