Will You Drop WidgetBucks?
Posted by Mike | Filed under CPC, Make Money Online“The Big BANG!”
Ever since WidgetBucks’ AdWords ad campaign started, a lot of people tried the program and were impressed with it. You get $25 for just signing up, and the shopping widgets have up to $6 eCPM! Now who wouldn’t like that? There’s even a referral program that no one could ever resist. Here’s a quick quote from WidgetBucks’ referral page:
With WidgetBucks’ Referral program, affiliates can earn a 10 percent referral fee based on the commissions earned by the people they refer. Affiliates receive this 10 percent for the full 12 months after the new member joins. Payouts to affiliates are monthly, along with their commission checks.
Because of the amazing features and the great revenue potential, a lot of people have installed the ad code and referring as much people as they can so that they can earn a lot of money online.
Within a few days, lots of people have reported that they are making a lot of money already. They have even posted some screenshots to prove that they’re already going “big time”! Here’s a thread on DP which shows some proofs that WidgetBucks is indeed a great moneymaker.
Whoops! Looks like WidgetBucks just got a slap from Google…
Some people may not have noticed, but there is a rule in WidgetBucks’ terms of service which says that there will be a backlink placed on the publishers’ sites and it may not be removed. Sounds okay to you? Well… Here’s the catch: The backlinks are HIDDEN, they’re placed behind the shopping widgets! 
Obviously, Google didn’t like this and so… WidgetBucks has been penalized. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Search for the term “WidgetBucks” or even “widgetbucks.com” and look at the search results. Now you’re believing me.
The Big Question: Will you drop WidgetBucks?
If Google doesn’t allow sites to place hidden links, and you serve WidgetBucks ads, then you might be penalized as well. Now, here’s the question for you WB publishers: Will you drop WidgetBucks because of their silly rule? What about the huge amount of money that you’re earning? Well, I guess you have to choose between search engine rankings (visibility, actually) and money. 
Anyway, there are lots of ad networks out there so… you know what to do. Move on. 
GOogle doesn’t allow hidden links…I know someone who is going to be in alot of trouble. But I bet she would drop Widget Bucks if Google said something to her…I will have to tell her this!! Thanks.
Oh well… it seems like everyone’s going to let go of WB.
I just read on there blog that it was a misunderstanding and that they neither got banned nor hid their
links.
Really? I gotta check that out! Thanks.
There is no reason to drop wb. As far as google rank in concerned, it is not the benchmark for the credibility of any site.
i wll be linking back to this post from my blog.
R.J.: I read the blog post. It looks like WidgetBucks removed the links, but they still don’t have the number one spot for the term “widgetbucks”. In fact, the site is at rank #66 for the said term.
It still seems to me that WB was penalized.
Adil: The reason why people are dropping WB is because of the hidden links (this is past now, though). They’re afraid that they might get penalized as well. As far as credibility is concerned, I think WB will pay… they’ve spend loads of money for ad campaigns.
WidgetBucks is one such company that would ban a publisher for even the most stupid reason
I hate such companies….