Over the holiday period I've discovered another weapon in the
blogger's money making armoury - a new electronic tipping service called
ScratchBack.
What makes
ScratchBack different from the usual dull-looking
PayPal donate buttons in that anyone who makes a donation gets a small reward for their efforts. The reward takes the form of either a text link or small image which is displayed in the recipient's
ScratchBack widget somewhere on their site. In effect anyone leaving a tip gets a temporary advert on the site they're tipping.
The developers of
SratchBack go to great lengths to stress that every link is rel="
nofollow" so no-one should get into any trouble with self-proclaimed saviour of the
internet, Google.
The publisher retains complete control of what is displayed in their widget, meaning that they can reject any overtly
spammy or otherwise offensive advertising messages which are left with a tip. Anyone leaving a tip should be mindful of this. The publisher decides the amount they want to charge for the top spot advert on their widget and how long it should remain in that position.
Currently, in the beta stage of the program,
ScratchBack are taking a 10% cut of all tips. This compares pretty favourably to most advertising services. Payment to the publisher is via
PayPal and there is a $25 payout minimum. According to
ScratchBack payments are made at the end of a thirty day cycle and can take up to 15 days to process - I guess that means expect it to take up to 45 days to get paid after reaching the minimum.
It looks like a fun program and it's completely free to sign up. Why not banish those boring donate buttons from your site and include a snazzy new
ScratchBack widget instead?
