It isn't new, but it's beyond annoying and beyond intrusion. Personally, if I had the servers for it, I'd provide a platform based on XMPP using it (though I haven't tested out XMPP's strengths).
That said, I definitely won't be happy to see Ads popping up in Skype, but I use it so infrequently, it barely impacts me.
Additionally, I'd avoid throwing around grandiose statements about how benevolent you'd be if you had the resources for it. We'd all be out saving the world if time/resources/etc weren't an issue.