Hey Sherry - if you thought Medium's algorithm was a big mystery, your inquiry tops that, especially about Quora's undisclosed advertisers. They don't tell you - I tried asking that. After being encouraged by an eventual $10 payout - accummmmmmmalative (that's how freaking long it took), I thought I might have a shot at creating sensible questions. NOT! I'm stuck under $2 and just can't seem to come up with enough nonsense to warrant any more earnings :-)