I don't mind the ads... I just wish they'd put them off to the side. There's sooo much room out there.
Putting them in the middle of threads just makes me skip over them, since my brain identifies them as "Forum sig" (sure, there's none on THIS forum... I'm sure we've all been to forums where they're giant monstrosities).
Exactly what I thought when I first saw them.
We're investigating the issue with Valve. Apologies for the hold up. The actual release version is 1.01.4176.
Maybe the desync gremlins forced out of Sins infiltrated Valve, seeking to avenge their fallen comrades.