Seeing how averse they are to putting any kinds of ads on the platform, I think they might find the middle ground by helping make ads in channels go through the official route. Basically, right now, some channels post "sponsored posts", which nets them some payment. By getting involved, they could probably help people not get ripped off, take a small cut of the fee, and make those sponsored posts integrated a bit better, maybe highlighted somehow. So no ads in the app, only in some channels, so that people can leave if they hate the ads.