Wanted to chime in here folks. First of all, these aren't really intended to be ads. In fact, just the opposite- it's supposed to be USEFUL information. Our line of thinking:
(1) People browse a thread and perhaps want more information on the phone they're browsing. After they're done reading the thread, info is right there for them.
(2) We want our "Best Phones" section to reflect the actual best phones, so we've made it easy for more people to vote in more places.
(3) We now allow people to sign up for instant e-mail notification for phones that aren't yet available. If they're interested enough to be at the forum they might want that info about it being on sale. We accomplish that in this area.
(4) TONS of our visitors come from web searches. These people are especially likely to read a thread, not find all the information they need, and desire (pun intended) some direction on where they can get more info.
This being said, having terribly incorrect info is a bad thing. We're launching a new section of the site tomorrow called "Best Apps" and once this is launched, we'll be refocusing a bunch of our energy on getting the phone guide up to date, launching the tablet section, and then ensuring each is maintained properly. It's the getting behind thing which has hurt us before.
If the vast majority of members absolutely hate this with a passion, we can remove it. Afterall, it's initial purpose was to be helpful and facilitate more activity and feedback on phones.