Google's Heatmap as given in the link above is a great general guideline for sites with conventional layout - but it is certainly not the ONLY successful strategy. The size of the ads as tested via tracking scripts show that the square/rectangular ads generally outperform banners and skyscrapers.
It's always advisable that your ads (If in fact you want them to be clicked) are what is commonly referred to as "above the fold" meaning the ads are viewable on screen when a visitor first hits your site. Above the fold will differ based on screen size and resolution. Remember the killer big hi res screen you are working on may not show the same area as the 14" notebook screen your visitor may be using.
There is "banner blindness" associated with many of the banner and skyscraper formats.
And yes there is some school of thought that says to "blend" your ads with your text, in this way they appear to be part of the content to many users. While this tactic is bit deceptive in practice it is not currently in voilation of Adsense TOS. It does work... but it is not the only method that works.
Script testing will show that people prefer blue and navy links - it's not reinventing the wheel that you are after - it's clicks. People know BLUE means "link".
I myself do very well on some sites with unconventional colors. I have found grey/silver on black to be very effective for me even on sites where it is totally out of sync with the color scheme of the site. It's an authoritative look - it means business - it means this is serious.
Unfortunately the above are only guidelines. I have many sites and many themes and many niches with which to test. Your best bet is to follow the basic general Google Heatmap guidelines, purchase a good tracking script and begin to test your own site. Find out what works for you.
I have a site that has a double figure click through rate using a 234 pixel banner ad!
The better you get at leading your visitor to the ad either visually or textually... and making sure the ads are truly targeted to the content of your page the more successful you will become.
There is no need to purchase this information as the people selling it are no more authoritative than any other seasoned adsense user - the key again is to test.
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