WidgetBucks - Frequently Asked Questions

WidgetBucks Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make money from WidgetBucks?

There are three ways to make money from WidgetBucks:

1. PPC, or Pay-Per-Click ads. Each time a user from the U.S. or Canada clicks on a WidgetBucks ad widget on your site, you get paid.
2. CPM, or Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions. When a user from outside the U.S. and Canada views one of your pages that contains a CPM ad from one of WidgetBucks' ad partners, you earn revenue.
3. Referrals. When you refer a new WidgetBucks user, you will receive a 5 percent referral fee based on the commissions earned by the people you refer. You'll receive this 5 percent for the full 12 months after the new member joins.

How much do I make?

How much you earn for PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads depends largely on your site's traffic and content. For international CPM ads, the CPM rate varies by region from around the world.

How do I get started?

Getting started with WidgetBucks is a simple 1-2-3 process. First, sign-up. Second, configure your widgets with our easy publishing system. Third, paste the code into your blog or Web page, or use our integration with popular blog platforms such as TypePad, Blogger and WordPress. If you want to change or update your WidgetBucks widgets in the future, simply sign in and go to My Widgets. As of November 28, 2007, WidgetBucks requires approval of new accounts in order to maintain network quality and a competitive revenue-per-click for publishers.

Does WidgetBucks require approval to join?

Yes. As of November 28, WidgetBucks is a "gated" ad network that require approval to join. Publishers who joined prior to that date were "grandfathered" into the network. New publishers are now required to submit more information upon sign-up, including domain information, site types, as well as additional location and contact information. The support team will review the publisher's information and site(s) and then approve/enable the account or deny (along with a reason).

How often do I get paid? What are methods of payment?

We make payments 45 days after the end of each month, if the account has a balance of at least $50. PayPal payments typically are made first, followed by checks. The $25 Sign-Up Bonus [received by publishers who signed up prior to Jan. 15] counts towards this $50 minimum for payment and is shown on your MyBucks page on www.widgetbucks.com. As an example, if you signed up for WidgetBucks in October, you would receive your first commission payment within 45 days of Oct. 31, approximately mid December, however we make best efforts to get money sent out earlier.

Does WidgetBucks pay in U.S. dollars or local currency?

We pay in U.S. dollars. Payments are by check or through PayPal. Payments are sent anywhere in the world. Checks will be mailed to your physical mailing address. PayPal payments will be deposited into your PayPal account, which is associated with a specific e-mail address (this e-mail address can be different from the one you use to sign up for WidgetBucks). Please visit the My Settings page at: https://www.widgetbucks.com/mySettings.page and indicate how you would like to be paid.

How frequently do my Impressions, Clicks, and Revenue statistics update?

All reporting data on WidgetBucks is updated daily and displays by Noon Pacific Time for the previous days activity.

Do you have a bonus program?

Not any longer. WidgetBucks' $25 bonus program was discontinued on January 15, 2008.

Do you have a referral program? How much does it pay?

Yes. When you refer a new WidgetBucks user, you will receive a 5 percent referral fee based on the commissions earned by the people you refer. You'll receive this 5 percent for the full 12 months after the new member joins. Your referral fees will be credited to your account and paid monthly, along with your commission payout. So, if you refer someone, and they make $100 in commissions, we pay you $5; if they make $1,000, we pay you $50. This continues for a whole year on all the commissions they earn. The Referral page has details on the Referral Program. When you are logged-in, go to the Referral Tools page to grab referral ads. You will soon see a "Grab this Widget" link on all widgets for viral distribution, which includes your referral information. Note that the cookie used to identify those you refer lasts for 30 days after they click on a referral link.

What is MerchSense?

MerchSense™ is Mpire's patent-pending contextual algorithm engine. It detects and analyzes the content of your website or blog to determine what product offers are most relevant to your audience. If you choose the MerchSense option when creating a new widget, simply place the code on your site and let MerchSense automatically provide the most appropriate ad content. MerchSense evaluates your editorial information daily, so, as your content changes, WidgetBucks will dynamically offer the highest-yielding products.

Can I place more than one WidgetBucks ad on my site?

Yes, there is no limit to how many you can place on your site.

Can I run WidgetBucks with Google AdSense?

Yes, WidgetBucks is compatible with all other ad systems.

Can I post a widget to my blog or publishing platform?

In many cases, a blogging/publishing platform will not allow the user to directly edit/enter HTML directly and/or there are restrictions on including javascript within a post. In these cases, you will not be able to place a widget in a post, but you may be able to add the widget to the sidebar. Sidebars are provided by nearly all blogging/publishing platforms, and they typically support HTML/Javascript. For example, WordPress does not allow certain types of accounts to add Javascript. Blogspot and Typepad are examples of platforms that allow you to place the widget code directly in a blog post and/or in the sidebar. Widgetbucks currently has direct integration with Blogger and Typepad to add the widget directly to a sidebar. You can also copy/paste the HTML code directly into a blog post on these platforms. Wordpress is also a very popular blogging platform, but has some specific WordPress steps that must be followed to support Javascript within your post. As a rule, if your platform allows you to directly edit HTML, you should be able to post a widget.

Can I put WidgetBucks on my site if I'm not based in the US?

Yes, as long as the site meets the terms of service. Please be aware that our terms of service does not allow non-english sites, ad-only sites, sites containing pornography or violent images, sites with invalid domains, and of course, click fraud. Widgetbucks can be placed on any site that has traffic; however, our mostly U.S.-based merchants/advertisers have indicated that they see an extremely low conversion to sale from international clicks, that is, those users from outside the U.S. and Canada. As a result, WidgetBucks offers the CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) ads for publishers' international traffic, and the PPC (pay-per-click) model for U.S. and Canada traffic.

Why has WidgetBucks suspended my account?

If your account has been suspended, it has violated one of our terms of service, including click fraud. Additionally, invalid domains and non-English language sites are not allowed, as well as ad-only, pornographic and/or violent sites. Upon suspension or warning, an mail is sent to the publisher who had an account suspended with the specific reason as to why.

What do I have to do to make the PPC or CPM ads work at the right time?

Nothing. WidgetBucks handles this automatically. At the time a user visits a page containing the widget, we will sense the geographic location of the visitor. If they are in the U.S. and/or Canada, the user will see the normal WidgetBucks widget. If the user is outside those two countries, then our system will determine a country-specific CPM ad to display. We are currently working with advertisers covering 100 countries and offering thousands of creatives to ensure that most site visitors will be monetized for your benefit. All ads are restricted against adult or other suggestive themes.

If you are an existing publishers running widgets, you will need to replace existing code with new WidgetBucks ad code on their sites in order to begin earning international CPM revenue. To update your widget(s), simply click "Copy HTML" within the "Customize Your Widget" page for that widget and re-paste/replace the code block into your site. The updated code can also be replaced directly into the Blogger, TypePad or WordPress blogging platforms.

Will WidgetBucks ever offer PPC widgets for global merchants?

We are looking into additional solutions, including pay-per-click links to global merchants. Most of these longer-term solutions will require additional time to implement so we appreciate your patience as we work toward those.

What can I do about click fraud on my site?

To guard against outside people committing click fraud on a site and widget ads, several of our large publishers have installed scripts that sense when someone at a particular IP address is clicking too fast and too often. The script then blocks that IP address and prevents them from clicking. Thus, their widgets do not show a high number of invalid clicks, and their accounts are not suspended. Publishers who don't have this protection may want to consider installing such a script on their sites.

Does it matter what type of site I have to use Widgetbucks?

As long as the site meets the terms of service, you can use ads on any kind of site or pages you are looking to monetize. We've seen our shopping widgets be effective on specific product blogs, entertainment sites, or even local search engines. Try out a few different widgets and see what works best for your customers, but regardless, you'll be making money! We have noticed that well-placed, contextual WidgetBucks ads can yield over very high eCPM, in many cases over $6 eCPM. Location of the ad is important for U.S. and Canada traffic as they are PPC ads, so it needs to be "above the fold" and if you are selecting a specific content category, be sure it applies to your site content. Otherwise, use the MerchSense option and it will snap content to your page automatically based on page content and demographics. Sites that are pornographic in nature, non-english sites, and/or ad-only sites are examples of sites that are not allowed by the Terms of Service.