Bryan, thanks for the input. Three suggestions:

1. Look for the ★ by article listings. This appears in the digest and pretty much all Medium surfaces when articles are listed to signify that they’re behind the paywall.
2. We’re always working on quality, but part of it is subjective. I highly recommend using the Mute function to stop seeing author and publications you don’t want. I find it has increased the quality of my feed a lot.
3. Subscribe. Then you never have to worry about wasting clicks. (Actually, I just gave you six months free. Enjoy.)