I run a fairly popular gaming forum and I have found that being more aggressive with the integration of ads being shown to the guests is far more effective than when you are applying it to members. Members come here to use the forums not look for information and are far less likely to click. Where as guests come to the forums not really knowing what to expect and if they don't find what they like they may look towards the ads and click because it interests them.
So I have quite a number of ad blocks running when users aren't logged in on my site, and under each I have a small animated image that says something to the effect of "Join for FREE today to remove the ads and have your say". By doing this it not only significantly increased my forum earnings by aggressive targeting the usergroup most likely to click the ads, but I also increased my registration rates, and improved the user experience for my members as I only show they a small fraction of the ads.
With that said in writing this post I have found the flash ads a little distracting - and I was even tempted to click the ad I pasted below. I'm assuming you are running ads with
http://www.cpxinteractive.com - if this is the case are you operating on a CPM or CPC basis, and if you are running on a CPC basis it might be worthwhile considering Google AdSense which is far less aggressive and doesn't destroy user experience but also performs quite well and is flexible in terms of design and banner size options AND is relevant to your site's content. I highly recommend checking it out.
Damn online marketers know me too well - I definitely "cared to see the rest":
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