how is it a cheat?

the reason why im asking this is because im also curious about getting adsense on my blog.

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A trick kinda is a cheat, right?

i think its ok google will not ban you for this, but they may warn you.

this policy violation & you can lodge a complaint against these kind of sites.

Its against TOS so any difference or thing should be there between images and ads and users must never be shown that the links are leading to image details.

something new i have seen

ads are not allowed near images!

You are running in to problem.. Google TOS has a clause in it it against misleading the google adsense advertisements with images and headlines above or below ads.. Sites which make good adsense revenue may be let off but sites with small clicks may be punished..
Why take risk when you have many established techniques.. I would suggest you to put a divider between two..

you can get banned if you continue this