I think it comes down to typography. Done tastefully and thoughtfully, they can serve the purpose of enticing the reader when they scroll through and then get out of the way as they go through the article. Like on New York Times Magazine’s current website. They don’t interrupt the whole column, they’re a different font, color and size, and they’re used sparingly.

On Medium, however, they function exactly how you describe; they interrupt the text column completely and complicate the reading process. By the time you realize what hit you, you’ve read the same thing twice. The typography compels you!