I really like GO Launcher. I agree the ads are a PITA, which is why a pd the $5 for GO Launcher Prime and got rid of them. My 2nd choice for a launcher would be Next.
I stay with GO Launcher for a number of reasons. I REALLY like having the completely customizable swipe out side dock, the option for two rows of dock icons to swipe between, S-Pen is fully functional (though I think it is in a couple others), being able to change the size of app icons and # of rows/columns of apps, being able to either view app names or remove them from home screen(s) as well as change the font & color (which I'm sure most others do as well), and one of my fave things is the random action screen flip that has about 15-20 different types of scrolling actions & also keeps scrolling through from the last page to the first again w/o going backwards.
Some things are just preference and others I like cuz they look cool, obviously, and I have a cool phone so I want it to do cool things

Plus I have almost all the other GO products like GO SMS which doesn't break up long msg's into serveral small msg's, GO Contacts/Dialer, GO Locker, & GO Notifications.
The only thing I don't use is GO Keyboard because I prefer TouchPal X keyboard MUCH better. ☺
Sent from my FABULOUS Note 3!