I was the first person to mention that the code used by Widgetbucks included a hidden link just a few hours after they launched, but the problem only really got noticed when Shoemoney wrote about this 2 weeks later.

Widgetbucks emailed their publishers today reporting an update in their code which you can include on your sites.

First of all they state:-

One of the concerns we’ve heard from many of you has been the slow loading times of our widgets. We really appreciate your feedback and comments in helping us improve in this area. So, today we addressed this issue by rolling out new code that ultimately delivers faster loading widgets.

They go on to say:-

Another option for updating code is to utilize the new categories and ad sizes we’ve incorporated over the last few weeks. Modifying a widget’s size or category — or creating an entirely new widget for that matter — will generate the new code that can then be re-copied to your site or blog.

They forgot to mention in the email that they had removed their enforced links which you weren’t allowed to modify. They could have left them in, as long as you were allowed to stick a nofollow on them, should you desire and were aware of it.

It still might be a bit spammy, but the problem was the “no modify” clause in the terms.

Here is the original code

<!-- START CUSTOM WIDGETBUCKS CODE --><script src="http://www.widgetbucks.com/script/widgetMagic.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div id="container_TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy" class="wbtw300x250"><a href="http://www.widgetbucks.com" target="_blank">WidgetBucks - Trend Watch - WidgetBucks.com</a></div><script type="text/javascript">writeWBStyles("www.widgetbucks.com");setTimeout(function(){var day = "" + new Date().getMonth() + new Date().getDate() + new Date().getYear();var widget = new mpireWidget("http://www.widgetbucks.com/widgets/wbtw300x250.swf?uid=TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy&apiURL=http://www.widgetbucks.com&day="+day,"TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy");widget.write("container_TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy");},Math.floor((Math.random() * 150) - (-(Math.random() * 150))) - (-200))</script><!-- END CUSTOM WIDGETBUCKS CODE -->

Here is the new code to compare

<!-- START CUSTOM WIDGETBUCKS CODE --><script src="http://images.widgetbucks.com/script/widgetMagic.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div id="container_TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy" class="wbtw300x250">WidgetBucks - Trend Watch - WidgetBucks.com</div><script type="text/javascript">writeWBStyles("images.widgetbucks.com");setTimeout(function(){var day = "" + new Date().getMonth() + new Date().getDate() + new Date().getYear();var widget = new mpireWidget("http://images.widgetbucks.com/widgets/wbtw300x250.swf?uid=TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy&apiURL=http://www.widgetbucks.com&day="+day,"TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy");widget.write("container_TiVAnRMsyRoS1hSy");},Math.floor((Math.random() * 150) - (-(Math.random() * 150))) - (-200))</script><!-- END CUSTOM WIDGETBUCKS CODE -->

I still have problems with some of the terms

• 5. Client’s Obligations Upon execution of this Agreement Client agrees to:
  (e) not collect trends or data or information from the Paid Listings without prior written consent for Mpire.

  This effectively means you are not allowed to track the effectiveness of particular keywords

• 10.Confidentiality
  (b) click-through rates or other statistics relating to Site performance in the Program provided to by Mpire

  If anyone reports data for clicks and earnings, they are liable to lose their account.

Even Google allow you to report earnings data, but not clicks

Sorry Widgetbucks, still no banana

They should also fix their SERPs and the dodgy redirects