Hi, I contacted Google support with that very question. The crux of their response was that they assess each case individually, so beware about acting on general advice. Best way to tackle the problem is to ask them the assess the placement - which, it seemed to me, they are more than happy to do. Good luck
ThreeGuineaWatch is right. Making a general assumptions is to be avoided. Please read what Google had written to me regarding to images of folders placed above the "728x15_0ads_al" Adsense ads: "In regard to your second question, about using third-party templates, please keep in mind that we ask publishers not to place misleading images near Google ads or use images that appear to be directly associated with the advertisers and their offerings. Such images may draw undue attention to the ads and prompt unintentional user clicks, thereby artificially inflating advertiser costs. As you may know, drawing undue attention to ads is in violation of our programme policies, so we are unable to approve the placement of all images next to Google ads."