A lot of people are making easy money using AdSense, I am not by the way. I am not using AdSense at all, because I was banned. I was not tricking Google AdSense, but I was kicked out anyway. I still don’t know why, and I have actually stopped thinking about it. I have moved on, even though I keep writing posts like this once in a while.

Anyway. 

I was contacted by one of my readers, Todd, about a week ago. He mentioned a system that I had never heard of before. He asked me to take a look at it, and this is my brief look and my thoughts regarding GadgetSpots.

All the links to GadgetSpots will be Todd’s affiliate link. That’s my way of saying thank you to Todd for sending me new and interesting tips. 

GadgetSpots is similar to Google AdSense. When I say similar, the only resemblance I can see is how the advertisements look. They look almost identical to Google AdSense, or at least the way Google AdSense used to look. Everything else at GadgetSpots looks to be different.

There are two very interesting things about GadgetSpots; Your advertisements will be shown across the network of websites / blogs, this way you’ll get traffic from a lot of different people. You can also earn money at GadgetSpots. If people sign up as a paid member, you will earn $6 each month on first level and $3 on the second level.

It seems to be an easy to use advertisement network, and it seems to be one that works. You display Google AdSense like ads on your website, and your ads will be displayed across the GadgetSpots network. If someone join as a paid member, you will earn money on two levels. Yes, it sounds easy.

But how is the traffic distributed among the members?

This is the tricky part for me. I can see that free members get 25% distribution across the network and paid members get 75%. But when they say that

For example assume there are 100 subscribed members and 1000 free members. For every 1,000,000 ad displays. Each subscribed member would receive (1000,000*0.75)/100=7,500 ad displays. Each free member would receive (1000,000*0.25)/1000=250 ad displays.

I guess it still sounds rather uncomplicated, but when they answer the question “Do I earn extra ad impressions for each display I make from my gadgets?” with

No, the GadgetSpots Network does not operate as a conventional trraffic exchange. Each member must display a gadget on their website. Once their gadget starts to display ads, their own ads are live on the network. Free Members share 25% of ad impressions and Subscribed Members share 75% of ad displays.  It’s that simple.

When I read this, I was a little worried about the system. What if I decide to “hide” the gadgets on a website that no one hardly ever visits, will I still get the 75% or 25% share of ad displays?

If this is the case, what is the incentive for members to actually show the gadgets instead of hiding them? You could just be “hiding” them and become a “free rider”, you would get your share of ad dispays anyway.

If you are interested in testing GadgetSpots, please sign up using Todd’s affiliate link.