Humbly agree, HuBob.
The site is the outline, members provide the content. Without members there is a DeadHub.
Ergo, members "work" for the site, and their reward, in my humble opinion, as in yours is -- no ads.
Non-members "pay" by seeing ads.
That's how I humbly figure it, always have, until someone comes up with a more compelling argument.
Cheers,
Svejk