Framing ads - allowed?

Using "picture" frames, not HTML frames

[btas2]

Does anyone know if AdSense allows you to put a frame around their ad blocks. I'm not taking about presenting the ad block in an HTML frame, rather using HTML to put a colored frame around it. Say by displaying the ad bock in a table with appropriate colors for the table border, or via CSS. The AdSense code would be unchanged.

The only thing I can see as a problem is if it would count as "drawing undue attention" to the ads, but that only comes up in the rules about Incentives, and there would be no incentives.

Incentives

Web pages may not include incentives of any kind for users to click on ads. This includes encouraging users to click on the ads or to visit the advertisers' sites as well as drawing any undue attention to the ads. This activity is strictly prohibited in order to avoid potential inflation of advertiser costs. For example, your site cannot contain phrases such as "click here," "support us," "visit these links," or other similar language that could apply to any ad, regardless of content.

Anyone ever had a ruling on this, or is it a case of "write to AdSense" and see what they say?

My guess is that they'd want to see it. I suppose it could be done to excess, for example having the ad on the middle of a flashing yellow background.

Just wondering if anyone had done it (in a subtle way of course). It's not much different than having a different background color for the AdSense ads, but whether adsense would see it that way is questionable.

You could consider whether having ads with a bright red border, bright blue text and a yellow background (fully allowed) wouldn't be a case of "drawing undue attention" if placed on a page containg black text on a white background!

[linear]

I have my pages using divs that have border styles applied via CSS. I also display my ad units in a similarly-styled div. For over a year or so I've run that with no problems. Plus it's very clean markup.

[hyperkik]

I've seen some sites with rather huge graphic borders around their AdSense blocks. Nonetheless, if I were you I would create a mock-up and run it by Google before implementing it on a public version of the site.

[espeed]

No you cannot. I tried putting adblobs (curved borders) around my ads a few years ago; however, Google sent me e-mail saying that displaying AdSense ads with curved borders violates AdSense policies in that the curved borders draw undue attention to the ads.

To comply with Google policies, I changed the format of the ads on the site to a white background and no border. It appears that displaying ads with no borders (boxes) is as actually more effective than displaying ads with curved borders, and both are more effective than colored boxes.