Review - WidgetBucks.com

By Terryzulit

Widget bucks in review is a little premature actually, but here goes anyway. Widgetbucks is a Chitika-like advertising network hoping to make big in-roads in to the Internet advertising game. The jury is out still (way out) and we’ll be testing their CTR, payment schedules, and reporting. My best guess is that Adsense will still pay better due to click through rates, but so far I like the Widgetbucks system. You can obviously see an example below, of a a Widgetbucks ad placement. You can change the color theme of the ad to match your site.

The Pros of WidgetBucks

• Widgetbucks offers a $25 signup bonus, and Bill Murray said in Caddyshack, “So you have that goin’ for ya”
• Widgetbucks allows unlimited ads on your site or blog, unlike YPN and Adsense. They don’t seem to have issue yet with inflating their advertisers costs (apparently). We’ll see how long that lasts.
• Widgetbucks login area is VERY simple to use, and new-comers to blog monetization will love the simplicity of their ad layouts, and options.
• The Widgetbuck ads look great and they certainly attract the user’s eye balls. However, perhaps a little too much - as I found my peripheral vision taking in the movement of the ad as I was trying to proof read one of my posts.
• Widgetbucks is new so bloggers can take advantage of refferals. They have an affiliate program so you can get in on that as well.

The Cons of WidgetBucks

• Widgetbucks has only a scant few advertisers at launch which really cuts down on the type of blog or website you want to use their ads on. Right now WB only has the typical advertisers in the electronics, video, ipod, etc., category. This is where all ad networks have trouble getting off the ground. Diversity (not an old wooden ship) for the niche builders is essential if an advertising network wants to grow in great leaps and bounds.
• WB was initially included twice in this Wordpress theme page template (which I mention here), and my pages were loading like tractors. Therefore, I would not run more than one of their widgets per page.
• WB is really a new gig and whether you make decent money is yet to be seen. If you run a website a website or blog that is in the computer and electronics niche, you could do very well I’m assuming. Not that the people in that niche are hurting as it is!

Widgetbucks Short Review - In Conclusion

If you have a site or a blog that gets a ridiculous amount of traffic, Widgetbucks might pay as the gadgets being advertised are very popular in the online shopping game. Or, as stated above, your site or blog is in the electronic gadget niche you could do well by running WB.

It’s unknown how the Adsense team feels about running Widgetbucks ads on the same page as your are running Adsense ads, so this is a very important factor you want to consider. I won’t be mixing ads, save for example purposes like the above ad.

If you don’t fit into one of these categories, you will likely want to wait and see of Widgetbucks is able to sign up a large and diverse number of advertisers. I’ll update this review as time goes on.

Rating: 4