WidgetBucks have announced new widget designs. Each of the different ad unit sizes now have two options (now when setting them up you’ll be able to choose a ‘B Series’ ad unit). One ad size (medium rectangles) even has three options (see below).
Also now you can change the rotation time for the product rotations in the widgets (it’s set at 3 seconds default – but can be anything from 1-10 seconds).
Here’s the normal widget:
Here’s the B Series Ad Unit
And lastly – the C Series Ad Unit
This was announced on their blog and via email. However in both places they recommended publishers check them out on the blog where they are in action. Only problem is that those of us not in the US can’t see the ads on the blog – because we get served CPM ads instead as part of the exclusion of non North American traffic.
On that note – I will say that the Alt CPM ads that non US and Canadian traffic sees have no relevance at all to any site I’ve seen them on. While this won’t necessarily hurt earnings as they are not click based – it doesn’t help your readers to see you as a relevant site when on your camera blog they see IQ tests and ‘outdrink the fratboy’ ringtone ads.
My WidgetBucks Recommendation:
My thoughts on WidgetBucks haven’t really changed in the last month. If your site has mainly US traffic (or you have the ability to do your own geo-targeting) then it’s great – particularly on product related blogs. I know some publishers who are making hundreds a day using it.
However if you have largely non US traffic and care about the relevancy of the ads being served to readers – I’d go with another option. The most similar ads to it at present are Chitika’s eMiniMalls and some of the widgets available in the Amazon Affiliate Program.
