I agree, online ads are annoying for a number of reasons. I'm curious what pay model you're envisioning. Content providers paying Disqus? Disqus users? I can see the former possibly working, as Disqus is providing the service to them.
Frankly, I can't tell you the last time I found comments on an article to be valuable. I spent the last half hour trying to work out the model before realizing I wouldn't pay a dime for it.
But I'm also not the likely demographic, so I'm left with my foot in my mouth! I can say I would pay for HN if it came to that, weird as that would be, preferably in a flat fee because it's easier to budget. HN is the only similar service I use.
