Skype - Completely kill adverts

readme.txt

Skype Ad removing tutorial as created by James Dartnell (Jaddie)

First lets remove the access to the adverts themselves:

-- Warning --
This will also stop the Skype home from loading into Skype, although this may be a benefit as its hardly used & simply slows the program down.

Open-up the control panel.
Open-up "Network & Internet" then "Internet Options".
Go to the "Security" tab.
Click on the "Restricted Sites" icon, then the "Sites" button below it.
Type "https://apps.skype.com/" (without the quotes) into the text box and click "Add"
Close and apply the changes.
Restart Skype.

-- Now to remove the advert areas from Skype --

With Skype completely closed (click quit on it's icon in system tray). 
Go to: (press the start key on your keyboard & the r button, then paste this in and it will open the folder)
%AppData%\Skype\

If you prefer the full path is: c:\users\yourusername\appdata\roaming\Skype\

Click on the folder that is the same name as your Skype User name.

Open the config.xml in  your fav txt editor and change this line:

<AdvertPlaceholder>1</AdvertPlaceholder>
Change the 1 to 0 (zero). 

I also changed:

<AdvertEastRailsEnabled>1</AdvertEastRailsEnabled>
Change this from a 1 to a 0 (zero) as well

Open Skype again and the ads are gone, however if they come back you may have to repeat the above steps & mark the file as read only.
 

Also, besides the apps.skype.com you should also add g.msn.com