I'm curious, do you have any theories as to why the job ads don't elicit this negative reaction? Is it just because there's no comments, so people have no place to complain?
The job ads have been around forever (or almost forever, a few diehards will insist), so they stand out less than something being introduced for the first time. Also, the noise level is lower because they are sort of all the same and easier to tune out—whereas random posts from /newest bring new forms of annoyance on a regular basis.
It isn't just that, though. It's also that the community has a sense of fairness about HN giving some things back to YC in exchange for funding this place. I say this because when we introduced Launch HNs for YC startups about 3 years ago, there were few if any complaints.
IIRC, the job ads are a perk of getting into Y Combinator. So even if they are seen as annoying by some, it's expected that they will just suck it up and deal. After all, Y Combinator is why the forum exists.
