Google has recently clarified that images or photos cannot be used near adsense ad units to lure Web site visitors to click them. For example, following type of usage is a strict no-no after this clarification (incidently this is used in a lot of blogs).

From the adsense blog,

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.

After this announcement I can see a lot of sites/blogs frantically changing their ad unit placement. I wonder what effect the change will have on their ad click rates!