So... last night I uploaded a brand new template to my site and noticed that the ads have shot up significantly in just a few hours. Question is, how close is too close between an ad and a link? If you look at the top of this forum, see how the ad is very close to the navigation bar? Is that too close? My gap between the ad and the nav bar is larger then the gap the DP forums have, but I am considering to increase the gap if need be to rule out accidental clicks. As a rule, I have always tried to maintain a minimum distance of 20px between any links and any ads, but doing so is not always practical.
I think you're safe with a space of 20px. Keep in mind that the rules are bent a bit differently with the amount of traffic. DP I'm sure gets more lenient rules, even if it's not official