Tiny Widget Apps Can Lead to Some Big Bills†

Brandweek, July 1, 2008 — Because widgets have the ability to spread virally, they are often touted as an ad medium of the future, but there's a downside to that virality: exponentially increasing costs. Typically marketers pay a vendor for creating widgets, which are mini software applications with videos, games and other content that can be moved from site to site by Web users.

I Just IM'd to Say "I Love You"

American Greetings, the 101-year-old cardmaker, uses social-networking widgets and instant messaging to reach the younger audience it desperately needs.

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — It's the weekend before Valentine's Day and the dozen or so shoppers at the American Greetings store in midtown Manhattan are wandering through a sea of Mylar balloons, heart-shaped tchotchkes, and rows upon rows of paper greeting cards. (Valentine's Day is the second-most-popular card holiday, behind Christmas and just ahead of Mother's Day.) The vast majority of shoppers are women, and only one appears to be under 40. The manager estimates that just 10% to 15% of customers are under the age of 20, prompting the adolescent sales clerk to hammer home that the clientele is predominately "middle-age women." That is not just anecdotal evidence but acknowledged fact at American Greetings, which generated $1.7 billion in 2007 revenues. Its annual report reveals... continue reading

American Airlines Flies With Facebook Widget

MediaPost Publications, March 26, 2008 — HOPING TO COZY UP TO consumers, American Airlines has launched a new marketing tool disguised as a Facebook widget. The Dallas-based carrier is looking to learn more about consumer preferences and buying habits.

The widget, dubbed Travel Bag, offers features that let Facebook friends share personal tips and experiences through tools like Favorites, Travelogue, and Trip-O-Vent. American Airlines hopes that by learning more about consumers, it will be able to provide relevant information about services and destinations, rather than deliver a bunch of postal junk mail or email spam.

Just in Case My Boss Asks Me During a Meeting, What Exactly Does 'Widget' Mean?†

Your Questions Answered: Widgets

Advertising Age, March 17, 2008 — We're talking about small, fairly straightforward applications that can run on your desktop or online: floating clock faces, scoreboards, weather monitors and so on. Think of them as miniature, portable web experiences that can be installed on your computer or — increasingly — embedded in MySpace or Facebook pages, in personalized home pages such as iGoogle, or on blogs.

Widgets: From Hype to Hits

Fast Company, January 9, 2008 — Last year, Newsweek predicted that 2007 would be "the year of the widget." This July, developers gathered in New York for Widgetcon, a conference devoted exclusively to widgets. Whether or not Widgetcon fulfilled Newsweek's prediction, it signaled that widgets were more than a passing fad on the Web.

'Widgets' May Snag More Ads†

Photos, Other Content Aided by Web Tools Draw Big Audiences

Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2007 — New data on viewing photos, videos and music on the Web may have an impact on the way advertisers and social networking sites perceive firms that help create this content. Nearly 177.8 million people world-wide viewed Web content in April made with online tools from companies that let people post photos, videos and music on other Web sites, according to data that Web-tracking firm comScore Inc. plans to release today. The comScore data is among the first to measure the reach of companies such as Slide Inc., RockYou Inc. and PictureTrail Inc., which create applications known as widgets that consumers can use to produce videos, photo slideshows and music playlists.

Web, computer "widgets" offer branding opportunities

Reuters, June 3, 2007 — Pop quiz: What technology is on the cusp of changing the face of Internet advertising as we know it?

Answer: Widgets.