I'm having a serious problem with the ads being run on one particular page and nothing I do seems to get them to be on topic. I've had to pull the ads there altogether and it's a shame because that particular page is getting steady, very targeted traffic.

I can't seem to find it in the TOS - is it a program violation to tell the search terms and ad topics without telling any figures?

It isn't numbers that are relevant, but it's kind of interesting from the standpoint of block level analysis as related to semantics. The entire page is about one specific topic and what's being picked up for the ads is another topic on the site that shares a common keyword between them. The ads are being run as though they were targeted for the other page, very specifically - and the only place the other page's phrase appears is one time only in the global navigation - not anywhere on the page at all, otherwise.

is it a program violation to tell the search terms and ad topics without telling any figures?

Nope, Google doesn't care if you say keywords/topics/etc, they are just peculiar about publishers revealing stats.

Try changing the ad unit size to ensure a mediabot visit and see if that brings correct targeting.

With shared keywords, it could just be pulling ads for the single keyword that is shared - so it could come down to the advertisers placing Adwords for the single keyword, but their ad is geared towards the double keyword phrase you don't want appearing, rather than the phrase you do. Or the double keyword phrase you don't want is worth more than the other - and AdSense will always show the highest paying ads first.

It could also be pulling those keywords from the navigation because there are no ads available to the remaining keywords selected for the page.

You might also want to remove the navigation keywords that are skewing things from the meta tags on that page.

Hope this helps :)

I tried removing the ads altogether for a day or so and then put them back on - still the same thing.

Jenstar
You might also want to remove the navigation keywords that are skewing things from the meta tags on that page.The meta tags are very lean, and very targeted to individual pages. It's more than likely the navigation that it's getting picked up from. I've tried changing ad sizes, location - nothing has worked so far.

It was one thing having diaper ads run on a mens page (OK, some men are fathers), which did at least stop in short order. But running ads for diapers on a bridal page is pushing it a bit, and then - running ads for pregnant belly casts on a bridal shower page is going WAYYY over the top. :D

Next thing, I'll try removing the instance of the conflicting keyword from the global navigation on the page, which is a PHP include right now, and see if that works - though it may affect the rankings negatively to remove it.

It could definitely be a seasonal thing - I am guessing wedding advertisers drop off their ad spend budgets at this time of year, and ramp them back up beginning around Valentine's Day. So those pregnancy advertisers might be paying more right now (mom-to-be Christmas presents, etc), which could be why those belly cast ads are appearing now.

To fix the problem, remove the baby-related words (or change the text to an image) on that single page. If you are removing those baby keywords on a single wedding page, it shouldn't affect rankings. Once you have done that, change the ad unit size to trigger a mediabot visit, watch for it in your logs, then you can change the ad unit back to the original size, if you wish.

It should work, unless you are getting themed ads only for that page for some reason.

Influencing G ads is a delicate art.

On one hand, you want to get your desired ads.

On the other hand, when you created the page you presumably optimized it for search engines. Changing keywords and phrases might get you the right ad, but it also could affect your search engine rankings.

It all comes down to finding the right balance. Good luck.