[dang]

I hear you—the front page only has 30 slots, and those 30 slots are by far the scarcest resource on HN. To burn one of them on an ad is a pain. Also, don't forget that we place Launch HNs on the front page from time to time (https://news.ycombinator.com/launches), especially when YC is in session and with a traffic jam towards each Demo Day. There have even been two of those plus a job ad on the front page at the same time, though that's rare—only once, or maybe twice, IIRC.

It's just so reasonable for HN to give back to YC in exchange for funding it, though, that I don't believe the bulk of the community has a problem with it. It seems to me, if anything, on the modest side.

Writing code to make the browser drop the job ad and slide #31 up to #30 isn't hard. The code for HN's 'hide' feature does something similar already. That's probably your best bet.

[toomuchtodo]

I agree entirely. Those who want to see the job ads will see them, those who don’t will find a way not to, and that’s reasonable for everyone.

I might add: is this the best way for HN to give back to YC, through ad slots? If so, carry on, it just feels like there might a more optimal way to pair potential candidates with potential startups (as you’re relying on quite a bit of luck that the right candidate will be on the front page at the right time interested in that particular role, job ad decay and all that). Without context, I’m unable to propose alternative methodologies, so I could be entirely wrong and these ad slots are objectively the optimal way.

Thanks for the reply, I am not unappreciative of the forum or the work you folks do.

[tomhoward]

> you’re relying on quite a bit of luck that the right candidate will be on the front page at the right time interested in that particular role

Often the way job ads get to people is that somebody happens to see an ad and thinks "that looks like a great job for my [friend|relative|etc]" and passes it on. So it's a wider net than you perhaps realise.

Also, people actively job-hunting will go to the jobs page to see all active listings. But having the placement on the front page serves as an ongoing reminder to people that the job listings exist.