I've always maintained that we do need external sources of revenue to add value to the site. I think it would be massive for the blockchain if there was ad revenue coming in. With the incoming SMT's it is something that i would hope to see added onto the site.
@timcliff has been posting about trying to raise the profile of the blockchain and attract investment but i think that having a revenue model would be a lot more appealing to investors than any marketing campaign.

Imagine an SMT that is based on ad revenue and distributed out to all steem holders.

This is where i would like to see the site going to. People using the site, seeing the advertisements. Advertisement money funding an SMT. SMT distributed to people who have been targeted by the the ads. Nothing too obtrusive but a little could go a long way. Now who wouldn't want to hold SP when you will be earning money directly from it.

Investors see a growing user base and ad revenue coming in, along with new apps and blockchain development and whats not to love. They win, we win and with hardfork 20 being successful a whole new group of users joining in their droves and adding to the site.

I do think that we need a social media app on the blockchain, something like early Facebook to really attract a new audience in large numbers but i am sure that somebody will add that before too long. Steemit is great and when you add in steepshot, dtube, dlive and all the rest we are making huge progress but we are still missing the social app.

I had never thought about burning steem tokens but i can see how that would add value to existing tokens, especially if there was a higher demand for them. However if our user base does grow over the next couple of years then it would hardly be necessary as there will be a big demand for steem tokens anyway as people will be gaining a lot of benefits and SMT's from holding SP.

Just my thoughts on the matter.