[og1]

I agree, there is something in the design that feels more balanced and makes the page elements work well together.

However, Stack Overflow is a business and I think moving the ad banner like that would have some big implications in terms of conversions. Also, the tagging system, which is a key navigational element as well as potential revenue source (sponsored tags) is removed.

Also, another thing I disagree with is the change in proximity of the user image to the voting icon. I think psychologically this has some implications because it now looks like you are upvoting the user vs. the information presented.