Wabbadabba doooo! (wabbadabba.com)

Member Name: salem_witch

Product:	wabbadabba.com
Date:	22/03/07 (535 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You could win prizes just by using this search engine, a great referral system

Disadvantages: The search results aren't as good as Google

Discovering new reward sites is always a good thing in my eyes and if I hear about something that seems to be worth it then I'll be sure to join it. So after reading a review about Wabbadabba and how you can win prizes I was intrigued. Then when I won I wanted to share this site with everyone else.


***What is it then?***

With such a strange name it's understandable to wonder what the site is. It's simple a search engine much like Google only with rewards. Everyday you get 15 chances to search and with each search you do you get a chance to win a prize. You don't have to click on any links for this to work so it doesn't take any time at all. So even those who have very little time could do this without feeling like they were wasting their time. You maybe asking yourself why they would chose to reward people for using a search engine. The answer is in their FAQs - they make money from the advertisers through the search results.

***The site***

The site has a nice layout and it's very simple to use. It is predominantly white with green and orange used for Wabba and Dabba. They are the characters you'll find throughout the site. When you log on you are greeted with a search box and you can chose whether it searches the web or just the UK like many search engines. Alternatively you can download a toolbar to be added to your browser if you'd prefer that. Personally I just visit the site as I'm not over keen on toolbars.

On the homepage you're also told how many winners to date they have and if someone has just won then they'll tell you who has won and what they have won which I thought was a nice touch. It reassured me that people do actually win and it's not just a scam. There is also a banner asking why you should use them to search. When you click on it you're taken to a page which explains very simply how it works.

You don't actually have to join to win anything so you can search every day and try you luck. I'd recommend signing up though as it doesn't take that long and they don't bombard you with any junk. If you do win and you're not already registered them you will have to register in order to claim your prize. That is obvious though isn't it or they'd not know where to send your prize! Registering with them doesn't take long and they only ask you for your name, address, email address, telephone number and your date of birth. You also have to create a password as with any other website you register with. You'll then get an email with and activation code. You can either click on the link in the email or enter the code into a box on the website.

Once you have signed up you can see a list of the prizes you have won under your account. It also tells you what stage you're at as well as telling you the date you won. So once you've entered your details it will then say waiting to be shipped. They do ask you to allow for a week, which isn't as long as some reward sites make you wait. I got my voucher sent to me in under 24 hours so I was impressed with the speed. Under this section you can also see which of your friends have joined and when they joined. The site also has a Wabbadabba blog, which is worth a look. There are silly pictures of Wabba and Dabba as well as announcements of milestone winners, such as the 400th winner.


***The search results***

The search results use yahoo so they are pretty good. They have sponsored links as well as the usual ones. They load really quickly as well so it makes doing your 15 searches a day really quick. The results aren't quite as good as Google though. I entered 'Ciao' and the German site came top and the UK site was forth. If I was seriously researching something then I'd probably stick to Google but I only really do the searches here for a chance of winning a prize and I bet most people who do the searches are the same.


***How do I know if I've won?***

If you do win you get a message saying winner popping up. I was very surprised to get this the very first day I started using wabbadabba. I'd done loads of searches and I didn't know if I'd done 15 yet. So I figured by doing a few more would make sure I'd done them all. Then the very next search I won so I was thrilled that I carried on just to be sure! You get an email saying you have won so if you do fail to spot you've won then you'll not miss out on your prize. You have to enter your details just to make sure they have the correct details.

***What can I win?***

At the moment they have £5 and £10 Amazon vouchers as prizes. On the homepage they state that you can win a 42'' Plasma TV. As the site is very new no one has won this yet but they do say in the Blog section that they are planning on giving the TV away very soon. On the day that I won 12 £5 Amazon vouchers were won. They have a winners list where you can see how many prizes were won each day and what they were. The £10 vouchers aren't won every day but they are usually won every day. However, on the 11th March five £10 vouchers were won. So you can see that it is random and you can't guess how many will be given out.

Cinema vouchers for Odeon have now been added to the list of prizes. I don't think these are very good as I know for sure I haven't got an Odeon in my town so they'd be no good to me. Each voucher they say is worth £6 but they admit one person for a film. So if the price of the ticket is more or less then it doesn't matter.




***Referrals ***

The referral system is what enticed me to the site in the first place. If you win a prize then the person who referred you will win the same prize. I found this hard to believe when I read it myself but when I joined and won my doubts were gone. When I did win it announced on the homepage that salem_witch and friend had won a £5 Amazon voucher. I have since referred others and a few have signed up. It is worth noting that they are only eligible to win your prize if they have logged into their account at least once in the last 30 days. This seems fair to me though as it'll mean those who use it get the rewards. Each household can only win 3 prizes per calendar month as well. I'm the only member in my house so this doesn't bother me too much. The chances of winning more than three prizes in a month aren't very high anyway. It would be annoying if you'd already won three prizes and then a referred friend won the plasma TV!

Referring friends is very easy and you can do this from the website by clicking on 'Tell a friend' which is at the top of the page. They will send them an email inviting them to join. If you have a website or blog then they have banners which people can click. They also provide you with a link, which you can copy and paste to others via instant messengers or guestbooks. So whichever way you fancy there are plenty of ways in which you can refer others. Remember if they join and win then you get the same prize so it's worth pointing out the advantages to anyone you think will want to benefit from them.


***What are my chances?***

I think everyone has a chance of winning because the way they pick the winners is random. If you have been referred and have referred others yourself then your chances are even higher than someone who just does the searches without referring others. Of course, doing the 15 searches every day also increases your chances as well.

As you can tell I think this site is well worth joining and trying to get friends join from your referral. It's also worth signing up from someone else's referral as it increases your chances of winning a prize. It doesn't take long at all and using a search engine is something people use on a regular basis anyway. So what have you got to lose?!

www.wabbadabba.com

***Update***

After using this for several weeks now I've found it would be handy if they told you when you last used it so you know when your 24 hours is up before you can do more searches and have a chance to win. I appreciate this would make it easier for people to win though so I can't see them adding this. It would also be handy to see a counter to say how many of your 15 searches you have left. That too would make it easy on them! When I started doing it I did my searches dead on 4pm as this was when I first did them. Some days I've found I forget so it's a little later so each day it's getting later and later so it does get a little confusing. So if you don't have the same routine everyday when you can do them then doing the searches could be forgotten.

***Another update***

I've since won again and this time it was the 1000th prize so I got £25 Amazon vouchers on top of my £10 Amazon voucher. So all in all I can't complain as I've had £55 in total from them in three months. I don't think there is another site I could have got so much in such little time. Plus I've not spent a penny or done much that a few searches a day. They still haven't given away a TV so that would have been nice as a thousandth prize bit then I already have a TV :)

Summary: A search engine where you could win prizes