I just downloaded the new dashboard beta and I am shocked by how much the ad space has increased. MS manages to throw even more ads in our face than before which was already ridiculuos, especially if you are a paying gold member.

The big center piece is always a huge ad, next to it are even more ads and only in the upper left corner can I see a tiny picture of the game that's currently in my 360.

You really need to treat your customers better, Microsoft! Right now I feel like I'm constantly mocked by this company.

I'll probably switch back to Sony when the next gen arrives because MS' service has become worse and worse in my eyes with all the unnecessary social shit and ads. I just can't support this any longer.

You know, while you're right that the idea of charging users a monthly/annual fee for online access while simultaneously presenting ads on their dashboard is kind of gross, I can't help but think the new dashboard's treatment of advertisements is far more elegant than previous dashboards, and thus, is less intrusive to me. Perhaps the quality on the advertisements has gone up, or perhaps it's just their natural integration into the interface, but I find it a lot easier to ignore them altogether now.