Ad units or % of ads vs content?

[nicole.healthline]

When looking at content "above the fold" is it more important to look at ad units or the visual % of unique content to ads? For example, if there are 6 small ad units or one large ad unit that takes up 30% of the page, which is better for search engines?

In general, is 50% unique content above the fold with 50% ads adequate or what % do you try to optimize for?

[EGOL]

Keep in mind that above the fold you have your site logo, persistent navigation, search box and other assets.

I think that your ratio should be considered after the above is subtracted out.

After that it depends upon presentation.  If the visitor is slapped in the face with two big ad blocks and has to scroll down to read content then that is too much.  However if ads are on the edges of the site and content is front an center than that is a lot better.

Ad format can be considered too.  If your site is heavy with images then big image ads can compete with the content.

My goal is to be sure that content is the most obvious thing within the design of the site and ads are subordinate.

Would people want to link to ads or link to content.  Make sure that your presentation makes them linking to content.

I have a high pagerank blog and link to informative sites every day.  I stopped linking to a couple very high profile sites that are household names when they started opening popups on my  visitor and having ads more obvious than content on their pages.