WidgetBucks Cracks comScore's Ad Network Report

Just six months after inception, WidgetBucks is getting recognized as one of the Internet's leading ad networks, according to the March 2008 comScore Media Metrix U.S. Ad Network report. See comScore's Ad Network press release, where they focus on niche ad networks, such as WidgetBucks, that are emerging to help advertisers target specific audiences. Also see our own release for more details.

Ranked No. 33, WidgetBucks is the first-ever ad widget network to enter this advertising-focused report. While they don't hand out 33rd Place ribbons, presence on this list is more significant than actual position, according to Jeff Hacket, vice president sales at comScore, Inc.:

“The addition of WidgetBucks in our March 2008 report underscores the growth of niche ad networks and the role widgets are beginning to play in online advertising."

Inclusion in the March 2008 report comes as WidgetBucks, which has gone from zero to three billion impressions in its first six months, expands beyond shopping widgets. Publishers will soon be able to earn money through interactive travel, pay-per-call and local ad widgets (currently in private beta), and later this quarter, real estate, auto and text link ad widgets.

- Dean

WidgetBucks' RPCs Rebounding

Over the last 48 hours, many publishers have been seeing a steady increase in their RPC (revenue-per-click) rates, recovering from last week's drop. We have been able to make progress on pricing issues with partners much more quickly than first predicted, and as a result the RPC increases can be seen across most categories and climbing toward pre-drop levels. Thank you for your patience.

- Dean

WidgetBucks' February Payments Have Been Sent

Publishers should keep an eye on their inboxes or mailboxes as February payments have been distributed. Consistent with previous month's payments, PayPal funds were sent first, followed by snail-mail checks to both U.S. and non-U.S. publishers.

- Dean

CPC and CPM Rate Update from WidgetBucks

This post touches on a couple revenue updates, largely around recent shifts in CPC (cost-per-click) rates and the baseline CPM rate publishers are seeing for U.S. and Canadian traffic.

CPC
CPC rates have have dropped significantly since this past weekend (March 29-30). We are working through those issues with partners right now and anticipate these rates will rise again within the next seven days. Incidentally, this drop we are seeing is not unique to the WidgetBucks network when it comes to shopping CPC rates right now; nonetheless, we're working to get those CPC rates back to their week-ago levels.

CPMs within "Hybrids"
After launching our combination CPM/CPC "hybrid" ads nearly a month ago, we are seeing a baseline .$25 CPM across the board and anticipate this to hold steady or even rise over time. We are working with a number of large ad networks to provide top brands within the CPM rotation, and currently we're seeing ads that are contextual, and targeted by geography and category, and as a result, these are remaining competitive.

A number of our publishers have updated their code to take advantage of this extra and/or off-setting revenue. If you haven't done so, we encourage you to check out this post for instructions on how to update your site code.

- Dean