WidgetBucks
March 1st, 2009 | 
Author: WidgetBucks claims to be the Internet’s fastest growing ad network,and from what I am seeing I tend to believe them.I have been a publisher for them since November of 2007 and in all that time have never had an issue with them,and any and all contact with support was rapidly handled in a friendly but professional manner.
They differ from most contextual advertising in that they have set themselves apart from the basic text advertising,of which a very large part is just one poor guy trying to swindle another poor guy,in that they advertise actual goods from real manufacturers and stores etc.
You may have noticed that when the page first loaded the ad above was a normal banner type ad,followed by the product ad you see now.This is fairly new feature,and one that allows publishers to earn from both impressions and clicks-a great benefit to some who live in countries that many advertisers choose to overlook.
They have three basic categories that you can chose to display ads from,and in each category they have a long list of sub-categories so that you can adjust them to suit your site,or you can try different and see what appeals to your readers the most.
They use what is called YieldSense;which is WidgetBucks proprietary technology that they claim will make you the most money. The claim is that after extensive testing behind-the-scenes, YieldSense automatically picks the products that maximize your revenue to your page.
You may chose to use it or not,the choice is yours.I suggest trying different ways on different pages/sites and see what brings you the most success.
The three choices are: quoting WidgetBucks
Shopping:These widget capture the hottest selling products based on the buying trends of millions of online shoppers.
Local:These widgets show your users relevant, real-time local content, such as weather, gas prices, top local businesses and restaurants.
Travel:These widgets show real-time travel deals based on your user’s origin. Also choose from ads that feature hot-spots like Las Vegas and New York.
end quote
Of course there is much more information on them available to you after you join .I do however urge you to not use the Local as it will show ads that pay you next to nothing.Unless your reader is from a major metropolitan area of the USA the ads can be worthless.
For this page I have chosen shopping/computers,simply because I feel that my readers-who for the majority are webmasters,would much more likely wish information about software or hardware then they would about the pizza store down the street from them,or a trip to Paris.
Also,to be truthful,I also like ads for products that cost in triple digits or more,as I feel that advertisers will pay more to advertise a $1200 laptop then a $12.00 pizza.IMHO of course.:)
Their ads can also be set to change on any interval from one second to ten.
The ads,or widgets,come in all the regular sizes,with some very cool designs,or if you are at all handy you can download a kit and design your own ads.
They pay you,depending on where the ads are seen and how they are handles-so while you will paid very well for a click from say the USA,you will still be paid on a per impression basis in other countries where many will not pay you a thing.Once more,this is something you will learn much more from after you join.
They have a very good referral program,they pay with PayPal,or cheque,and their minimum payout of $50.00 is very reachable.In fact,this shows the wiliness and professionalism of the owners,when I first joined the minimum was at $100.00 until I pointed out to them that the best way to excite a new publisher is to place cash in their hands as soon as possible.They agreed with my reasoning and where glad to make the change.
Try asking Google to lower their minimum of $100.00 and see what happens.
That ends my review,which is very positive,but I must also warn of one quirk the ads seem to have.Unless the ad is in the window,they do not begin to download. I advise you to place all your WidgetBucks ads within the frame of the window-even if people do scroll down to where they are,they may take a few seconds to appear,depending on settings-so best to just have them “in daylight”as I like to refer to that area that appears on your monitor without you having to scroll down.
Also,since in many countries you earn a CPM for your impressions you want to be sure you have impressions-yet just another good reason to place the ad as high on the page as possible.
I am happy to report that they have paid me each and every time,and on the time stated or sooner.So-until further notice,WidgetBucks is my number one recommended AdSense Alternative-join them today
