What is a widget?
A widget can do anything a website can do but the widget can travel; it can allow users to download a free song, view short and humorous videos, or offer more information about movies. Other widgets act as rich banner ads. Some let you buy tickets, make other transactions, and e-mail the ads or widgets around. These widget ads can help qualify users for major brands. You can also grab the widget and embed it into all other sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and influential blogs.
This is an example of a basic widget we built for Men’s Health Magazine
Forget static banners; online ads are evolving into mini-applications with video, games and dynamic content that people want to embed in their own web pages and share with others, further blurring the line between advertising and content.
Advertising has become more intelligent because widgets have exposed branded products and services to their most likely buyers.
As a result, advertisers and agencies that want to engage today’s consumers are starting to turn their ads into content. They will soon have to produce content that is so compelling, relevant and entertaining that consumers will look for it and then share it with others. The new ad model is about creating great content and finding clever ways to embed it within interactive social-networking communities.
Facebook now includes thousands of widgets—such as Slide for photo slide shows and iLike for music recommendations—that have boosted the popularity of social-networking sites. Widgets’ interactivity and viral nature makes them attractive to marketers seeking new ways to reach their target audiences. Brand advertisers are leaping onto the widget ad bandwagon rapidly. Beta versions of our platform are being reviewed by a large record label, and a few widget music-delivery opportunities are being discussed as well.
Every widget we create has ad placement oppotunities. We offer brands the ability to develop an ad strategy that allows us to place those ads to specifically targeted widgets. We can deliver any brand message to a highly specific segment of our growing user base.
What does this progress mean to companies that want to embrace it? Everything. From banner ads to widgets to online games and chat rooms, Flash will enhance web communications with well-formed and -presented messages that engage audiences rather than turn them off with misguided efforts to impress.
