I originally began learning SEO because I wanted to be able to make some extra income through the Internet. As a result, I’ve used several CPC ad networks and a few affiliate programs. Jumping into a new ad network can be a little scary if you already have an established website that is making money. You’re not always sure what kind of CTR and CPC averages you can expect so mixing up your current setup can cost you money.

Widgetbucks Logo

The first Ad network up on the block: Widgetbucks

Widgetbucks Review

Widgetbucks is a fairly new ad network but is a product from Mpire Corporation. Their ads are pretty unique and a nice change of pace from many of the other ad networks. Here’s one sample of about a dozen or so different sizes and styles:

widgetbucks-sample.png

Widgetbucks really started out great for me. Their CPC for my category was much better than I was receiving with other ad networks. I think their rotating, colorful ads really interested people in clicking on them. My CTR with Widgetbucks was bordering on suspicious it was so high.

But as most things go, Widgetbucks took a turn for the worse.

Bad Move #1: The average CPC dropped substantially. The Widgetbucks Team worked to improve it and it eventually settled somewhere in between awesome and crummy. For the past couple months, it has held steady and a pretty decent rate.

Bad Move #2: Widgetbucks started showing ridiculous banner ads before the products. They were the classic and horrible fake “windows alert” box and smiley face emoticons. I believe these banner ads pay at an impression rate but it definitely took a cut into my earnings since my website is product based and the regular Widgetbucks ads were perfect for my site.

Bad Move #3: Pop-unders. Seriously? Fortunately, you can opt out of these. This was another attempt to improve earnings but it just comes off as over-kill and spammy to me.

Bad Move #4: Strange data issues. My impressions and clicks are pretty steady. However, there are days when Widgetbucks reporting shows 0 clicks. I’m not buying it. Another anomaly occurred on a day where my traffic really increased as did my clicks. I had earned the exact same average CPC for the previous 2 months, then the one day where my clicks double, my CPC magically cuts in half so my earnings stay the same. The next day my traffic returns to normal and my CPC increases to its normal, steady rate. Strange, eh?

Overall:

Widgetbucks is still a fairly new ad network so you can expect some bugs and glitches which we have seen. Overall, it is still a pretty decent network and my #1 earner for most of my websites. They pay via PayPal which is awesome and when I had a major technical glitch, I was eventually contacted by their CTO to resolve it (after some failed attempts with their difficult to use support system).

If you have a product related website, I’d definitely recommend testing them out and see what kind of CPC you get. Feel free to leave your opinion of Widgetbucks in the comments or contact me if you have any questions about my run with them.

Widgetbucks: 7/10

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Disclaimer: Links above may contain affiliate codes but the review is my honest opinion!