chuck is saying that the links are there because Google disincentivized putting (some) ads directly on the landing page.

Yes, it's SO greedy to make quality content available for free, and trying to get a bit of revenue from ads for you efforts.

And in the same vein it's not greedy at all to castigate such a site for having the audacity to sacrificing a little usability for increased revenue.

I think Jalopnik and other Gawker media sites sacrifice too much quality for cash. Tangentially-car-related celebrity articles, clickbait galore, all their little SEO tricks. I was a long-time reader but I gave up on the site due to these tactics, which is unfortunate because some of their writers were (and presumably still are) very good.

But compare to TTAC, which manages to stay on topic, has excellent reporting, great stories, and uses simple ads.