As an advertiser on this site, let me add my .2c on the subject. I too had a general thread (helmets) buried in swapmeet. As an advertiser who pays a significant amount to have a year round skyscraper banner on the right side of snowest, I rely on being able to at the very least break even. The truth is, a new product announcement thread generates FAR more product interest than any banner will. The general rule for as long as I've been on Snowest (and other sites) is as a paying advertiser you are allowed to make periodic tasteful product announcements in the general type forums.
Now I completely agree, anyone that is not a paying advertiser should have restrictions on posting commercial ads. And perhaps there should be a restriction on tasteless or an overbearing number of ads even from an advertiser. But is it necessary to eliminate these threads from upstanding advertisers who may post 3-4 a year? Often times these threads end up more about product discussion than a sales ad. Take my helmet ad, we made a last minute change to the helmet based on opinions from that thread. Take Sled Solutions bag thread, there is a huge wealth of valuable product suggestions that ultimately will lead to an even better product.
A specific product announcement forum may sound like the answer, but lets be honest it won't have anywhere near the viewers as the general thread. So unfortunately what it comes down to for advertisers is if the return is worth the investment. And after all these changes, if the ROI isn't penciling out, alot of ad dollars will be lost.
