New terms & services of AdSense

New terms of service and AdSense support team

New terms of service and AdSense support team have now clarified all of these issues.

Question 1) Does Google allow other ads to run on the same page as AdSense Ads?

Answer 1) The official word is a qualified "yes".

You may not run ads that are designed to resemble AdSense ads. For example, Yahoo! Publisher Network ads look very similar to AdSense ads. While you  can run YPN on your site, they may not appear on the same PAGES as AdSense ads.

However, contextual ads like those provided by Kontera, Intellitxt, Amazon and Chitika ARE allowed on the same pages as your AdSense ads!

While not the exact answer we were hoping for, this does clarify for us and opens many new options for publishers wishing to use others advertisements on their pages.

Question 2) Google's recent "images next to ads" policy is confusing. Could you please clarify so all publishers know what is and what is not allowed?

Answer 2) Google prefers that publishers avoid images that are lined up directly next to the ads so that it appears each ad is associated with an image. If the dimensions of the image are completely different than the dimensions of the ads, that's okay.

But if it appears to the user that the image is at  all associated with the ads, that would be in violation of AdSense terms of service. 

The general idea is Google does not want visitors clicking on ads because they have been deceived in believing the image is associated with the ad.

That leaves a lot of room for creative design, and it also means that AdSense graphic backgrounds and visual frames are within terms of service.