I am surprised by how many irrelevant 'hot on google' posts get in the way of me using google plus. They could put an add down the side, sure, but not in the middle of where I am reading, and not completely undistinguishable from my contacts' posts.
You can turn that entirely off (I did as it's way more likely to be some celebrity than anything of interest to me) by going in to the "What's Hot" circle (choose it from the left side list of circles) and then adjusting the slider (at the top of the main pane.
