Ad and image placement: a policy clarification from the official Google
Inside AdSense blog covers issues about placing images next to AdSense units,
something that seems to have grown in popularity as a means of encouraging
clicks. In short — don’t. Google doesn’t want images to appear related to
AdSense links:
We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a
relationship between the images and the ads. If your visitors believe that the
images and the ads are directly associated, or that the advertiser is offering
the exact item found in the neighboring image, they may click the ad expecting
to find something that isn’t actually being offered. That’s not a good
experience for users or advertisers.
You’ll find some discussion on Techmeme about the clarification
here, and Jennifer
Slegg may be along to postscript or link to further thoughts or comments.