Commenting system giant Disqus powers reader conversations on millions of sites, including large publishers like Rolling Stone and the Atlantic. So when Disqus quietly introduced ads into their free plans last year, there was some understandable frustration.

Why did @disqus just add a bunch of ads to my site without my permission? https://t.co/CzXTTuGs67 pic.twitter.com/y2QbFFzM8U

— Harry Campbell (@TheRideshareGuy) February 1, 2017