If you haven't already heard - WidgetBucks heralds itself as the ultimate Google AdSense alternative: this publisher program inserts 'dynamic' ads that cycle through a handful of products in real-time, while displaying those products' star ratings, descriptions and "best prices."

Widgetbucks created a stir around the webmaster community with its aggressive, anti-AdSense advertising campaign, and promise of high click payoffs.

With WidgetBucks, your income structure is based on pay-per-click, where you are paid for each click made on an ad by a legitimate website visitor. You do not earn anything for conversions, or products sold as a result of those clicks. Also, don't even think of clicking your own ads - like any other publisher program, this will throw a red flag in the air.

The main core competency of Widgetbucks ads is that they dynamically cycle through a list of products, rather than showing a static ad that only changes with a page refresh. Widgetbucks ad code uses Javascript to call its Adobe Flash-based ads.

Widgetbucks is perhaps one of the easiest publisher programs to use, and a breath of fresh air from the multiple-page atrocity of setting up AdSense ads. The "New Widget" screen, as seen above, is your be-all-end-all start and finish screen for creating a new widget. Name and identify where the widget will be seen. Next, select a widget size, and a product rotation interval (how fast do you want Widgetbucks to scroll through a list of products? The choice is from a 1 to 10 second pause).

Select a color scheme to apply to your ads - make it match your site's color scheme as much as possible!

Last but certainly not least: from your menu on the right, you can select the broad and sub-categories of products you'd like to see featured in your ad (how we all wish AdSense had this feature...). While all of these changes are being made, the preview area (not seen in the screenshot above) dynamically updates and lets you see the exact ad you'll get. Finally, save and add the code to your site - and you're done!

These screenshots of Widgetbucks ads will give you an idea of the sizes available to you, the publisher. Note that these screenshots are not displayed at actual ad sizes, but all have been re-sized uniformly to scale.

WidgetBucks Skyscraper Ad Screenshots



WidgetBucks Box Ad Screenshots



WidgetBucks Banner Ad Screenshots

Widgetbucks is a legitimate company, and is managed by the Mpire Corporation, of whom has substantial vestments:

WidgetBucks comes to you from the folks at Mpire Corporation...Founded in 2005, Mpire is backed by Ignition Partners and former eBay executive and Pay Pal angel investor Richard Rock."

Widgetbucks officially launched on October 2, 2007. The first-ever round of payments have successfully been reported by Widgetbucks publishers during the first week of December 2007. The waiting period for the very first payment was approximately 45 days, in many cases.

Yes - Widgetbucks and AdSense can co-exist on the same page! AdSense's terms of service state that other advertising venues may be used, as long as they are distinguishable from AdSense ads that are located on the same page (and, as long as they do not encourage clicks to AdSense ads).

Widgetbucks is a great alternative publishers' program for anyone looking to jazz up their blog or site with a graphical, ever-changing ad that displays multiple products. Note that it is not for those looking to blend ads with the rest of their site - these ads do scream "I'm an ad!", so - other tactics should be assessed for your website(s).

Widgetbucks is a good alternative for AdSense users suffering from penny clicks. Even at the minimum, I was earning $0.07 per click for a video site that was previously earning penny clicks with AdSense.

Widgetbucks' contextual option struggles, for the most part (it's the option that looks at your page, and displays items that it thinks would be most relevant). Selecting your own categories is highly recommended.

Note that some Widgetbucks users complain about how Widgetbucks ads will slow down the load time of a web page. This matter was addressed by Widgetbucks in late October, with more optimized ads. Many webmasters have reported more success with using Widgetbucks ads near the bottom of a page (since the ad will be loaded by the time you scroll down to see it).

It should also be noted that Widgetbucks works best on websites or blogs that review products - such as consumer electronics.

The best advice is to give no advice here - try Widgetbucks out for a week, and see how it works for you! They offer a $25 sign-up bonus, which can be redeemed once your account hits its first $25 worth in ad-revenue (as payments are sent after a $50 increment is reached). Much like any other publisher program, your payout per click depends on many variables, which include the market you're targeting, as well as the products being displayed for them. The many varieties and sizes of ads makes for a more pin-pointed ad experience.

If you've found this review to be helpful, please sign up with Widgetbucks and try it out for yourself! See how it compares to the other ad programs you've previously used (or are currently using)...just click on the banner to get started - and Happy Monetizing!