First, reddit’s own admins have called out these statistics as inaccurate (even the numbers you’ve cited wildly contradict each other). Secondly, and more importantly, have you seen the kind of content that always floats to the front page? Advertisers willing to associate themselves with content like this discussion (http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/du2sa/wow_she_is_hot_w...) and this submission (http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/d6y0n/once_you_go_bla...) are not typically the kind that pay premium rates. I know reddit likes to think of itself as a community of intellectuals and sophisticates, but this self-image has little basis in reality, and every would-be advertiser looking at the site knows it.