Most techies have never heard of HN. Maybe 10 percent of them I meet have heard of it, almost none of them actually use it.

I think your irritation is justified, it would have been better to not make that comment. Sorry.

I wonder who would pay for that and why? Since advertisements can't be deployed through such a service, the service will need customers. Are those customers companies, or individuals? Are you going to sell to people involved in the stock market, like day traders? Or what type of customers would find this valuable?