Rasputin - 8:53 am on Nov 8, 2012 (gmt 0)

Well, if so, all sites that use AdSense would be penalized, and that simply is not the case.

Of course there are many sites, especially big brands but also some smaller sites, that get away with excessive amounts of adsense with no sign of a penalty.

But you can't draw the conclusion above because the presence of advertising (including adsense) is only one of many factors in ranking - so for example a positive 'well known brand' score or incoming link profile might well outweigh the 'too much advertising penalty'.

That said, I'm convinced sites aren't penalised because of adsense per se but sites that have too much advertising or are MFA type sites are often penalised - with the net result it will look like sites are being penalised for having adsense, just because that's the most commionly used advertising.