Ads above the fold

I believe affiliate links are alright, but again, make sure the web page is clear, quality and unique and don't flood it with google adsense or any adverts.

The point is that they do not want people going to sites and encountering nothing but ads and having to scroll down to find the content they want. What I think this may be about is those X-Factor and CTR-optimised-type templates that whack 2 ad blocks below the article title, or whatever, and encourage the user to click them, maybe even thinking they are the content they were looking for.

No-one really knows (like with most things in SEO) how heavily these things factor into the algorithm, and of course there are still tons of sites out there ranking fine with this kind of in-your-face advertising on them.

But on all my sites I make sure I have at least SOME of the article high up on the page. I do have ads below the title sometimes, but they are always floated left or right of a paragraph of text. All my sites do fine. Sure, CTR is a little lower, but that's better than getting slapped.

So, yes, I would say affiliate links/buy now buttons ARE included in this, but you're not going to have any problems as long as you are not going crazy and you are not pushing your content right off below the fold.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, the one "micro-niche" site of mine that got hit by Penguin, I had put a MASSIVE opt-in form at the top of every page, pushing the content right down (just to see what was happening, as the site was a fail anyway). My site went to oblivion, even though it has pretty good content and has survived all the other updates. Coincidence?

You know those sites that you visit and are bombarded with ads at the top, that make you just go...wow?

As long as it's not to that degree, ads at the top are fine.