[nextparadigms]

No, they weren't flagged off the page. The first one slowly faded to the bottom of the page, and the second got few upvotes.

[cooldeal]

The second one was on the 3rd page with 30 points posted 2 hours ago which doesn't happen without flagging.

http://i.imgur.com/ADMcanz.png

Copy pasting from my earlier reply to you about the first one:

Then why was it sitting below another article that was posted around the same time but had only nearly half the points? http://i.imgur.com/uFPTSqR.png

Edit: Even now, it ranks lower than another article with the exact same points posted a full four hours before it.

http://i.imgur.com/Yg5kXJb.png

[mixmax]

I believe that a lot of factors go into determining the rank, including domain, poster, and probably more. So it's hard to compare 2 submissions.

That said, if flagging pulls the submission down, which I believe it does, then it's an obvious avenue for abuse for people with an agenda.