Opera removes advertisements from their free web browser
And its about time too:
http://www.opera.com/free/
“"We want to become the second-biggest browser. The number one (held by Microsoft's Internet Explorer) is a little inaccessible," Opera Software chief executive Jon von Tetzchner said.
A lighter version of Opera has until now been available for free download on the internet, but with ad banners.
"We've always stood up well in comparison with our competitors in technical tests but users disliked that they had to pay $US39 and that we had ads. We decided to eliminate these obstacles in order to attract users," Mr von Tetzchner said.
"This decision is not aimed at Firefox. It's aimed at increasing our market share," he said. “
Source:
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,16673017^15318^^nbv^15306,00.html
I've always liked Opera, even with the banner ad - that being said, I'm pleased its gone :o)