TANSTAAFL! There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
Somebody has to cover the costs of the servers and programmers. It's either advertising or pay upfront. For my usage, I can't justify the monthly charge so am content with the ads.
Since I only have cell phone access, I don't know how many ads show up on the computers, but I've only seen like one a page at the most. Considering how other sites plaster ads everywhere, it could be worse. Imagine if they started putting ads between everyeme, like some of the "News" sites do.
I wish some of the more mainstream advertisers showed up here: Budweiser, Proctor & Gamble, GM, names we're familiar with. They constantly mention their websites on TV, Radio, Newspapers, packaging, but rarely online. Go figure.
That said, I think imgflip is doing a good job of balancing content with revenue.