Considering most ads are more visually striking than the content they're being put in, I think putting the ads in the middle of the content itself is a good way to simulate that on a text-only website like hacker news. Also, ads are often on the top or at the side, not at the bottom. But let's try it and find out. Edit: I think this is still distracting, but that may be because italics is often used for emphasis on HN. I wouldn't call it very distracting though. It's a slight annoyance. But it does make things a bit worse.

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