ScratchBack is an online ‘tipping’ system where you can ‘tip’ a publisher and get a link back in return. You can sign-up for a 
free account and create a widget like the one you see on this blog sidebar.
I like the whole concept behind this widget. You have probably seen ‘Buy me a beer’ pitch in a lot of blogs asking for a donation or a tip indirectly. I never liked that as that would be like pressuring you to contribute something because you read my post. I write for the fun of it and because of the want of sharing the good stuff I come across.
With ScratchBack, you can tip if you’d like to but you get something back in return as well. You get a link back (Google friendly nofollow links). You get a link back to your site as well as when someone hovers over your link, it displays a message of your choice.
ScratchBack works in 2 ways:
- Bump me: I have set it up with this option right now. You can get your link in for a mere
$4.00$2.00(I am experimenting with the numbers). As I understand it, a link remains in the top spots until the 6th person tips and they get bumped in. - Don’t Bump: You have the option to set it so it doesn’t bump links automatically. This way you can ensure that a link is visible for a week or a month and you can suggest a tip accordingly. I might go with this model once the idea catches up here.
While ScratchBack is in beta, they are giving out 90% payout after the Paypal fees. They started out with 50-50 cut but the publishers have swayed their mind. So, if you are a publisher this is a great time to get in.
The widget comes in different colors and for a limited time the ScratchBack team is in fact offering custom widget designs for free! Or if you are graphic-savvy, you can download the widget artwork, make changes and give it to them to upload it just for you!
Also, they have just lowered the publisher payout amount to $10 from $25.
Go ahead and try it on your own blog or website. I would love to hear what you think about this snazzy little widget.
What’s the difference between this and text-link/AdBrite ads?
Have you had any luck with it yet??? I’m curious as to how well this model works. Thanks
Troy, ScratchBack isn’t an ad system and more a tipping system. It lets readers ‘tip’ the author similar to the ‘Buy me a beer’ sign or ‘Paypal Donation’ sign. The important difference here is the reader gets something back in the form of a link (notfollow – another big difference). It’s a win-win situation. 🙂
Aseem, I just introduced this yesterday (Dec 1) and its kind of too early to tell. 🙂 I will abolutely tell you in a week or two as I experiment with different numbers. Maybe $4 is a little high to start. We’ll see. 😛
I have seen many bloggers implement this one, but never tried. Its good to make few bucks.