Keeping Steem clean vs penalising fairly/unfairly?

Steemians, what is "appropriate" and what is "not appropriate" to post in the grey-area of providing a referral link (which benefits the end user, as well as the author)?
Image

Isn't this the pillars of what the Steem platform is built upon?

My post about WCX got flagged and downvoted. As a new user of Steem with very little "reputation" and "influence" it is now of course hidden.

I'd like your opinion. As you can see, it is the second link out of two, clearly advertised, and only provided as it adds value to the end user.

The part of my post which flagged is as follows:

Links

If you'd like to see the full context here is the post https://steemit.com/crypto/@sophtcodr/re-steemcleaners-re-sophtcodr-wcx-and-why-it-interests-me-hello-decentralization-goodbye-high-exchange-fees-20170904t100343680z

credit for image: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwijjbWevovWAhUHHJQKHSkUDLoQjB0IBg&url=https%3A%2F%2Femojipedia.org%2Fthinking-face%2F&psig=AFQjCNEwkPuOTRBEJxSdyO_oTlRAVI9QaA&ust=1504612783845311

H2
H3
H4
3 columns
2 columns
1 column
Join the conversation now
Logo
Center