What is Widgetbucks and Does It Work?

WidgetBucks heralds itself as the ultimate Google AdSense alternative. The system inserts "dynamic ads that cycle through a handful of products in real-time, while displaying those products star ratings, descriptions and best prices."

I am not currently using Wedgetbucks on any of my blogs or websites, but it seemed worth investigating. Widgetbucks created a stir around the webmaster community with its aggressive, anti-AdSense advertising campaign, and promise of high click payoffs. But does it work?

With WidgetBucks, your income structure is based on pay-per-click, where you are paid for each click made on an ad by a legitimate website visitor. You do not earn anything for conversions, or products sold as a result of those clicks. The main thing about Widgetbucks ads is that they dynamically cycle through a list of products that you select, rather than showing a static ad that only changes with a page refresh. Widgetbucks ad code uses Javascript to generate its Adobe Flash-based ads.

Widgetbucks is a legitimate company, and is managed by the Mpire Corporation. "WidgetBucks is created by Mpire Corporation...Founded in 2005, Mpire is backed by Ignition Partners and former eBay executive and Pay Pal angel investor Richard Rock."

Widgetbucks officially launched on October 2, 2007. The first-ever round of payments have successfully been reported by Widgetbucks publishers during the first week of December 2007. The average waiting period for the first payment was approximately 45 days.

Adsense ads and Widgetbucks ads can coexist on the same page, so you are welcome to use both on your blog.

So is it worth using? Here is Squidoo has to say about that:

"Widgetbucks is a great alternative publishers' program for anyone looking to jazz up their blog or site with a graphical, ever-changing ad that displays multiple products. Note that it is not for those looking to blend ads with the rest of their site - these ads do scream "I'm an ad!", so - other tactics should be assessed for your website(s). Widgetbucks is a good alternative for AdSense users suffering from penny clicks. Even at the minimum, I was earning $0.07 per click for a video site that was previously earning penny clicks with AdSense. Widgetbucks' contextual option struggles, for the most part (it's the option that looks at your page, and displays items that it thinks would be most relevant). Selecting your own categories is highly recommended. Note that some Widgetbucks users complain about how Widgetbucks ads will slow down the load time of a web page. This matter was addressed by Widgetbucks in late October, with more optimized ads. Many webmasters have reported more success with using Widgetbucks ads near the bottom of a page (since the ad will be loaded by the time you scroll down to see it). It should also be noted that Widgetbucks works best on websites or blogs that review products - such as consumer electronics."