WidgetBucks, who until today were featured quite prominently on Money Blogger, have just changed their payment policy.
Now, ad networks changes their terms and conditions all the time, but the WidgetBucks change is the most mindblowingly stupid idea I’ve ever heard:
From now on, publishers will only be paid for trafffic from the US and Canada.
For many publishers, that will completely wipe out their earnings, and they may not even be aware of the change. Meanwhile, WidgetBucks are continuing to accept clicks from outside the US and redirect them to their own affiliates. (I just checked – one of my links was redirected to Amazon via DealTime.com)
In short, they’re generating money from your traffic, while refusing to pay you for it.
Now, there’s a possibility that this is just a really, really bad attempt to try to stamp out fraud and not a ’scam’, but the consequence for publishers is exactly the same – WidgetBucks is stealing your traffic and not paying you.
I’m now in the process of removing all WidgetBucks widgets from my sites, and I’ve already taken down the ads on this site. My personal recommendation is that you should do the same (and maybe try AuctionAds instead) – but obviously, the decision as to whether or not to remove WidgetBucks is yours at the end of the day.
On the plus side, I do now have two 125×125 image ads on Money Blogger up for grabs at very reasonable rates. Get in touch if you’re interested!
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Tags: ads, advertising, scam, widgetbucks
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15 Responses
http://journals.aol.com/ninetyplus4life/Capacity/
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
1THANK YOU. I stumbled upon this post literally while I had the widget TOS agreement page open. I won’t even bother with them now. I haven’t had any luck with Adsense or anything else I’ve tried on either of my blogs. I’ll check out the auctionads today to see if I have better luck. Thanks again.
J. D.
suray
November 26th, 2007 at 2:35 am
2From the first time I registered myself to WB, I thought that this PPC program was fascinating. After I had read your post, perhaps WB is a scam.
Francis
November 27th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
3I have just made $50 on the site and it is near the end of the month. I hope it isnt a scam otherwise Im going to be very thrustrated
fr0gman
December 10th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
4WidgetBucks seemed great in the beginning. We are all looking for a reliable and profitable alternative to Adsense and/or YPN, but WidgetBucks has shown their true colors and those colors are SCAM.
http://riskyschemes.com/2007/12/10/widgetbucks-mpire-corp-outright-scam-artists/
Eddie
January 31st, 2008 at 8:14 am
5Oh guys,this widgetbucks is a pure scam.
I have been with them 2 months, today jan 30, when the time came to pay me, they suspended my account without pay, saying that each click must likely lead to a purchase from the ad your visitors clicking on at your site-otherwise it is a fraud.
My friend’s account was suspended too-same reason,and many others.
So my 1500 bucks are gone, i am sick and tired of these scammers like widgetbucks, so want more info-send me an email I will explain you their game.
In short ,this guys will get their money for my visitors’ clicks, but when time comes to pay publisher-they suspend the account and save his money too.
A pay per click rate is 3-6 dollars from the merchant, they promise 10-40 cents per click to the publisher, they do not pay you for the first 2 months/so that you do not understand the game, then they suspen your account and -ALL MONEY In THEIR POCKET.
WHY THEY DO NOT SUSPEND YOU AFTER 1 MONTH THEN?
NDERSTAND NOW?
Good luck-if you find something else-let me know
Eddie
widgetbucks really sucks
June 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
6I had tried widgetbucks in my site but for me the earnings from google adsense was 40 times greater than widgetbucks. however i planned to place the ads until i make 50$ and its already been 3 month that my account balanced reached 50$ but still i haven’t recieved my payments.. now i’m gonna remove all the ads of widgetbucks from my site.. widgetbucks really sucks
Gary Ellis
July 5th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
7I was a victimof Widgetbucks as well. After 6 months displaying their ads and countless referrals, I finally made the payment threshold. I went to login to my account to see if they had issued payent but my password wasn’t working. The recover password feature didn’t work either. After several weeks and several attempts to contact support, they finally responded and said my account was terminated. What a scam.
kibo
July 30th, 2008 at 3:51 am
8I just signed up and got approved from widgetbucks then a friend of mine told me that widgetbucks is a scam. Now, I am not sure if I will put their ads on my blog. Until now, they do not give you their pay out? Any recent updates?
Brad
March 15th, 2009 at 7:16 am
9Same here. Lost over $1000. They approve my sites initially, and I was only using their ads on those. If they think my site violate their TOS, whey did they not disapprove the ads? Now when it comes to the payment date, they suspended my account and forfeit all the money. What a scam. Never use them.
Think you know NY?
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 am
10Shit Im glad I decided to type in google widgetbucks scam, saved me the time of filling out pointless sign up shit. For what its worth to anyone, Ive been using smowtion and projectwonderful. My website just started, so Im making pennies. LOL. but they’re gaurnateed pennies they pay per impression and per day?
WidgetBucks SUCKS!
August 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 am
11I think they are! My account balance was almost $40, but now not able to sign-in! They are saying that my email doesn’t exist!
sandrar
September 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
12Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.
Davor
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
13Just registered to widgetbucks
and now I found this blog posts. I am using adsense
and made a couple 100
and was looking for some other PPC processors
I just read on another page that Widget bucks is run by MONKEYS ;)
Supplemental Income Advocate
November 16th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
14With more people opting to earn money from the comforts of their own homes, you have to be careful as online frauds are scattered around. You need to detect work at home scams, since you might be wasting your effort and time on nothing.
Before joining any money making schemes do research on the company and try to check on how long the company has been in the business.
Do not fall prey on these work at home scams. Keep an eye out for these signs, and if you detect one, report it to the proper authorities right away. You not only need to protect yourself, you need to protect others as well.
Aditya Sharma
November 21st, 2009 at 1:38 pm
15Yep it sucks for sure I had 10K of ad views and they have still not even added 1$ to my account well lets see how log does company lasts
plz recommend some great ad sites but not like widget bucks
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