Widget, Wadget, what is it?

Bay Area Interactive Group (BIG) Panelists define what are widgets and how they are affecting the advertising community.

The Bay Area Interactive Group (BIG), a professional association for marketers, hosted the first BIG panel discussion of 2008, sponsored by Google. The panel consisted of leaders in the widget and application markets: Kevin Barenblat, Context Optional; Heidi Henson, Rock You; Donna Stokes, HP; Ken Barbieri, Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive; Will Price, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

The widget has seen rapid adoption among web users in the past year with 65% of the web viewing widgets. Unlike standard banner units, widgets tend to create a lasting impression on the users through high levels of engagement and its viral capability. A widget is defined by wikipedia as, "...anything that can be embedded within a page of html, i.e. a web page. A widget adds some content to that page that is not static. Generally widgets are third party originated, though they can be home made". As with many emerging channels, the marketing spend as a percent of digital expenditures lags user penetration. Widgets were $20 million of last year's ad revenue or .001% of the online ad market.

Rock You, a leading provider of applications and widgets on the web described a case study performed on FaceBook for the motion picture Sweeney Todd. Rock You placed Sweeney Todd applications on FaceBook where users could take custom quizzes for example which Johnny Depp Character was their favorite? and then compare the results amongst friends. Allowing users to pass the applications along to friends turns the user into the advertiser. Without even realizing what the user is doing they have already sent an advertisement to several of their friends giving the advertisement viral aspects. At the same time, the user can scroll over a piece of the application where a banner or another custom widget would be displayed. A widget enables many levels of engagement allowing the user to spend time with each portion of the widget and become apart of the brand during this interaction time.

FaceBook notes the invitation of application flow is important. It allows interaction with friends, entering social communication channels, and leveraging those communication channels to engage and interact with the content. The life span of these units is viral and can be infinite. We will be seeing a lot of the widget and other applications in 2008.