Contacted WordPress support about unsolicited advertising on “hugmamma’s mind, body, and soul.” Asked that it be removed. Following is the answer I received.

WordPress.com has been running advertising on our free hosted blogs since 2006. Many bloggers do not know this because despite the fact they ticked the box required to get a free blog, they did not read the ToS. Many also do not read features page, or advertising entry in the support documents after registering their username and blog(s). Also note that as the ads do not display to us when we are logged in, and as many use browsers with ad blockers when logged out, they may not realize they are there at all. The only way to get rid of all advertising on our free hosted WordPress.com blogs is to purchase an annually renewable No-Ads upgrade.

If you feel an ad is inappropriate please take a screenshot of it and send it to Staff by emailing support@wordpress.com or upload it into your Media Library and contact Staff and let them know it’s there for them to view.

 In response, I said…

Thanks lots for the clarification. You’re right that I did not pay heed to the “fine print.” Entirely my error. I seem to remember, as does my husband, that ads use to run in the sidebar. The fact that they now appear as part of my post is somewhat off-putting. My husband has opened up an ad thinking it was a continuation of what I’d written. Can anything be done to separate ads out of the body of the post?

I chose WordPress because of its offer to blog for free. I’d like to hold onto that freedom, such as it is. I already pay to own my domain name. Another $30 would seem to run contrary to why I chose your site.

hugs for your timely response…hugmamma.