VERSION 0.11
This program helps you to place lots of Project Wonderful bids at once by using keyboard macros.
This is very, very dumb software - if it comes across an error, it doesn't know or care. All it does is send keystrokes to FireFox. With that in mind, it's important to make sure that you follow the instructions carefully, as the software won't stop if it's doing something it shouldn't. Also, if you have anything important in your Clipboard, paste it into something - to speed things up, this program uses the Windows clipboard rather than entering text by its own means.
This software is open-source. Feel free to download the source code for AutoHotKeys, tinker with it and post your results.
This software is currently only compatible with Mozilla FireFox running under Windows, but that will hopefully change soon.
Why do we need a mass-bidding system?
Advertising on smaller publisher's websites usually gets a better CPC rate, and thus a higher return on investment. Unfortunately, larger advertisers tend to bid on bigger sites, because of the infeasible amounts of time it would take to bid on the number of low-traffic sites that would be necessary to get comparable traffic to a bid on a high-traffic site.
This engine lets advertisers place automatic bids on as many websites as they like, making it easier for them to get a higher CPC rate by bidding on lower-traffic websites.
I also hope that this software will help to offset the widening gap in average bid values between high-traffic and low-traffic sites.
Is this against Project Wonderful's TOS? Will I get into trouble if I use this?
The official word is "Not Yet." I contacted Ryan before posting this here, and he said it would be fine; for now at least. If it proves to be more trouble than it's worth, that may change, at which point I'll remove the engine from this site. And if it revitalises Project Wonderful's economy, who knows; maybe Ryan will make an "Official" version within PW itself. At this point, the software is an experiment, and we're using it just to see what happens.
Is this morally sound? Could automated bids be considered spam?
That's a tough one. I take the view that every bid helps - even zero-dollar bids are welcome on my sites as they help to keep the costs of other bids pushed up.
Personally I would love to see this engine used as a tool to place hundreds and hundreds of ten-cent bids, to help out the smaller publishers.
Setup
No installation is required - the Mass-Bidding Engine runs straight from the .exe file. Just download it to any location and run it from there.
You should have FireFox installed on your machine, with Find As You Type enabled, and you should know the Ad ID of the ad you want to bid with. You can find your Ad ID by going to Project Wonderful's "My Ads" page and editing an ad - the Ad ID is displayed at the end of that page's URL. Also note that when you close a tab in FireFox, the tab to the immediate left should gain focus - some tab management extensions change this behaviour, so make sure your tabs are operating in the standard manner before using this software.
If you have any FireFox tabs open, close them, or open a new FireFox window. Navigate to the Project Wonderful site, log in, and run a search to find the sort of publishers you'd like to advertise with. Unlike the previous version, this version will only place bids on one advert type at a time - so make sure you specify only one ad type in your search.
Open the Rapid Bidding Engine and enter your desired parameters:
Ad ID:
This is a number, most likely a four- or five-digit one, that represents your ad's unique ID in the Project Wonderful system. The example shows the Ad ID for Project Wonderful Talk's button ad.
Start and End Dates:
These must be formatted in exactly the same manner as the example in the "End Date" box. If you want your ad to start straight away, leave "Start Date" blank.
Cycle Count:
When you press CTRL+SHIFT+5 to enter Automatic Mode, this is the number of search result pages which will have bids applied to them. In other words, this number, multiplied by ten, is how many bids you'll place automatically.
Command Delay:
A delay, in milliseconds, between similar commands being issued to FireFox. Default is one second. Increase this for greater stability, reduce it for higher speeds.
Phase Delay
A longer delay that takes place in between phases of the cycle, to let Project Wonderful catch up. Default is five seconds. Increase this value to ensure that all the tabs load in time, and that you don't get any tabs spitting out at the "My Mailbox" page. Reduce it if you're running the engine at a quiet time of day.
Once all of your parameters are in, press "Confirm." This will bind a series of commands to the following hotkeys:
CTRL+0: Used on the Search Results page, this opens every available bidding page from that page of results, then advances the search results by one page. You'll then have eleven FireFox tabs open, ten of which will be bidding pages, and the first (leftmost) will be the search engine results page, which will be loading a new page of results.
CTRL+1: Pre-fills the form on the bidding page by appending a string (made up of values you entered into the Engine) to the URL and pressing Enter. It then moves to the next tab automatically, so to fill out ten forms you would simply press CTRL+1 ten times.
CTRL+2: Submits the form by locating an input box and pressing Enter. Again, it moves to the next tab automatically, so to submit ten bids, just start at the second tab (assuming the search results are in the first tab) and press CTRL+2 ten times.
CTRL+3: Used on the confirmation page, this locates the "Place Bid" button and presses it. It'll save a second or two per bid placed if you use it rather than using the mouse, especially if you have to scroll down.
CTRL+SHIFT+5: Enters Automatic Mode, and runs the number of cycles you specified in "Cycle Count." A cycle is made up of five phases, with ten commands in each phase. In the first phase, run from the search results page, ten bidding pages are opened and the first tab will advance to the next page of search engine results. In the second phase, forms are pre-filled. In the third phase, forms are submitted. In the fourth, bids are confirmed. In the fifth and final phase, tabs showing confirmation pages are closed and the cycle is returned to the beginning with one tab, ready to start again on the new page of search engine results that was requested at the end of the first phase.
At the end of each phase, the engine will pause for the number of milliseconds you defined in "Phase Delay," to let Project Wonderful catch up and to make sure all the tabs are fully loaded. The engine will also pause in between issuing each command for the length of time specified in "Command Delay," to ensure that pages are properly loaded and also to help offset any problems caused by slower computers.
If the Cycle Count is set to five, and the Phase Delay and Command Delay left at default, the engine will place fifty bids in a little over six minutes in Automatic mode. If properly set up, you can quite reliably leave the engine running and go and do something else. Alternatively, you can use Semi-Automatic mode to place and confirm each bid by pressing the CTRL+1, 2 and 3 keys, and you'll probably be done much faster.
Downloads
Windows Executable
Autohotkey source code
Support and feedback
Post in the forums if you have problems, or want .to discuss any moral or economic issues raised by this software.
Project Wonderful Talk
http://www.projectwonderfultalk.com/staticpages/index.php/project_wonderful_bidding_engine