Matt,
Since the post background is blue, how about making the ad background white. I don't know if that'd be better or worse?
While I don't like the ads inside the message box, compared to blinking banner ads it may not be the worst thing going.
OTOH, having a GA Bard ad at the bottom of one of MY posts would make me want to barf.
Anything below is an IHub ad, not my doing...