Here are some Gigya Widget examples 

• Dove Go Fresh (TV Series Widget)
• Hotel Indigo (Service Widget)
• Liberty Mutual Coach of the Day (Service Widget)

Click here for Clearspring Widget Examples.

Since the explosive success of Facebook applications, a number of companies have started ad networks delivered through social media applications (such as Facebook and OpenSocial applications). The idea is to help developers monitize their application traffic by display ads directly within their applications.  At the same time, these ad networks allow brands (including some of our clients) promote their Facebook applications. Here are some of the social media ad networks for those interested in advertising to social media users or simply promoting their applications on socical networks:

“Pure Play” Social Media Ad Networks
New ad networks started purely for the purpose of monitizing social media applications.

• Socialmedia Networks
  Claim to power over 5000 applications and counting.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• Lookery
  Recently acquired by AdKnowledge.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• Cubics
  Support most major social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, and Bebo. Acquired by AdKnowldge about a year ego.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• fbExchange
  Based on old LinkExchange model. Display ads for credits which you use to buy ads for your apps. Claim to have over 1443 developers in their network.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  

Facebook Apps Turned Ad Neworks
One day they were a popular Facebook application, the next day, they are an ad network!

• RockYou Ads
  Popular Facebook application developer (SuperWall) turned social media ad network. Charge on a per-user-acquired (CPA) basis ($0.30–$1.00 per application add). Network spans all major social networks and claims to have over 6 billion page views a month.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• EggNetwork (VideoEgg)
  Huge ad sales team with experience selling to big brands. Sell at above $10 CPM. 60/40 revenue split with application providers.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  
• SocialCash
  Created by Gratis Internet, a Washington D.C. based web advertising agency best known for their free iPhone advertisements.
  Blog | Visit | more..
  

The Adobe  AIR  runtime was designed to allow developers to use Adobe Flash and FLEX to build “rich media” applications that run outside the browser on multiple operating systems. Today, a vast majority of web widgets are written in Adobe Flash.  This allows them to run on a broad range of social networking, community and blog sites. Creating Adobe AIR versions of these widgets enables them to function as desktop widgets with very little extra work.  In the past, developers had to package Flash widgets on one of the desktop widget platforms (MacOS, Vista, Yahoo! widgets, i.e.) or use ZINC to create destkop version of their widgets. Some of these options were limited to certain platforms, while other options were cumbersome or expensive.

Adobe AIR is looking like a very attractive widget development platform. Like the recently updated Yahoo! widget engine, AIR supports WebKit, SQLite, XML, AJAX and Javascript.  Like the Yahoo! widget engine, users have to download and install the Adobe AIR runtime (approximately 15MB vs Yahoo’s 23MB).  Additionally, Adobe AIR runs on Microsoft Windows 2000; Windows XP; Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise; Mac OS X (10.4, 10.5); and Linux – pretty much everything! More to come on Adobe AIR widget development!

Every once in a while it is good to remind clients that there is no “one size fits them all” widget. In fact, not only are there different general widget platforms, but each platform has its own widget types and technologies. There are generally four common types of widget platforms. Two established and two emerging platforms. These are:

• Desktop Widgets: These widgets run on your computer desktop
• Web Widgets: These widgets run on a web page, blog or social network
• Mobile Widgets: These widgets run on your mobile phone
• TV Widgets: These widgets run on your TV set

Web widgets are either universal (run on most web pages) or platform-specific (run within a specific web environment such as iGoogle, widgetbox or Netvibes). Web widgets are generally written in Adobe Flash or Javascript/HTML. Some platform-specific widgets also have an XML component.

Desktop widgets usually run on a specific widget platform. These platforms are either OS platform-specific (Windows Vista, Macintosh OS, i.e.) or use a widget engine (such as Yahoo Widgets!, Opera, i.e.).  As I mentioned, the “widget engine” can be part of the operating system (Vista, Mac) or run on multiple operating systems. Third party widget engines that run on multiple platforms (Yahoo Widgets!, Opera) must be downloaded and installed by the end-user, which an be a barrier to distribution.  You can also have “native” Windows or Macintosh widgets, which are essentially stand alone applications than run on specific operating systems.  These “native” widgets, though rare, are usually written to address operating systems than do not come with a built-in widget platform (Windows XP).

Mobile Widgets, as the name implies, run on mobile phones (primarily the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile devices and the Nokia S60). Several mobile platforms are available. Yahoo Mobile widget platform runs on the iPhone, Windows Mobile devices and the Nokia S60 phone! Yahoo is one of few companies to support third-party mobile widget. Widgets are also available on Opera’s Mobile 9.5 platform which runs on Windows Mobile, Nokia S60, and UIQ. Additionally, MOTODEV Studio for WebUI from Motorola allows you to deploy widgets on Motorola’s open mobile Linux platform using Java ME, UIQ and Native Linux.

TV Widgets represent a emerging new platform recently announced by Yahoo! and Intel. Yahoo is currently the only platform with plans to support TV widgets on certain HDTV models from Samsung, Vizio, LG Electronics, and Sony. TV widgets will live at the bottom of your TV screen and will be turned on or off with one click of the button! Initial widgets will include the obvious news, weather, stocks, sports and photos (Flickr).

For a complete, more comprehensive list of widget platforms visit: http://go.metablocks.com/widget-platforms

Some time ago I talked about Enterprise 2.0,  the transformation taking place within the enterprise as companies move towards embracing Web 2.0 technologies and practices. Two interesting components of this corporate trend are enterprise widgets and enterprise mashups. Enterprise widgets are hardly a new concept – a growing number of companies have been using widget to distribute software and services to enterprise web sites and desktops. Organization as large as IBM are getting behind mashups  and in fact have recently partnered with Google to allow integration of more than 4,000 Google Gadgets with WebSphere portals. Others like SAP have been experimenting with widget and are finding that  enterprise widgets have  requirements not seen in the consumer space. When it comes to deployment, some like Etelos (CRMforGoogle) are deploying widgets using existing web-based platforms (iGoogle, Netvibes, i.e.) while other are sticking to desktop platforms (like Windows Vista), stand-alone widgets or proprietary widget engines.

If your company is considering enterprise widgets, here are some common requirements that may impact your enterprise widgets efforts:

• The ability to work well within a firewall environment
• Integration with existing SSO (Single-sign on) systems
• Improved cross-platform support
• Support for enterprise security
• Support for notification and alerts
• Integration with CRM, ERP and Business Analytics (BA) systems

Widget platform providers are paying attention and are adding support for enterprise widgets. Netvibes, for example, is partnering with WorkLight provide secure enterprise widgets for transactional use within companies. iGoogle is being used by IBM and SAP and has a 600 person organization dedicated to bringing Google technology to the enterprise. Expect more and more companies to embrace enterprise widgets to deliver real-time information and notifications from enterprise systems.

Based on a conversation I had yesterday with a prospective client, I wanted to share some widget development best practices we at Metablocks try and incorporate into our widget development process that might help companies who are considering adding widgets to the social media marketing mix:

• Keep it Simple Stupid – No Registration, No Emails
  At Epicentric, a company I started in 1999, I used to have a saying: “All attempts to limit revenue will succeed!” – the same applies to traffic! Requiring registration or sign in, or adding any unnecessary complexity to the widget download process will only result in less distribution! The general idea should be to have as many people download (and then share) your widget as possible. Expect abandonment rate as high as 30%-50% if you plan or forcing users to register or give you their email address!
• Enable Widget Customization and Personalization
  Most widget platform (especially desktop platforms) enable some degree of personalization. Consider allowing users to “skin” your widget (customize its design) as well as save preferences such as their zip codes (example: for a weather widget) or favorate content categories.
• Support Multiple Platforms
  Until the world runs on one operating system, be sure to support as many platforms as make sense for your customer or user base. Windows Vista Sidebar widgets will take care of Windows Vista, MacOS X widgets will do the same for the Macintosh and Yahoo! Widgets on Windows Vista, Windows XP and the MacOS. Make it easy for users to download widgets by supporting multiple platform (there is no “one-size fits them all” approach when it comes to widgets) and not requiring registration or email addresses. Click here for a list of common widget platforms.
• Support Sharing and Bookmarking
  Considering using a widget distribution platform (such as Gigya and Clearspring) to add a sharing menu to your widget. Although their sharing capabilities are not perfect, widget distribution platforms are configurable so you can enable only the sharing options you know will work with your particular widget.
• Track User Activity
  Another benefit of integrating a widget distribution platform into your widget is their ability to track most aspects of user activity. Custom reporting solutions, which we have built for a number of clients, are also an option if you require custom or extensive tracking capabilities.
• Have a Compelling Value Proposition
  You must give users a compelling reason to download your widget! A simple “Tip of the Day” widget will probably not do, and the days of “Look Ma – No Hands but I have a Widget” are long gone! Ask yourself, “Why would someone download my widgets” and consider packing more functionality or utility into your widget to up the value proposition. Widgets shouldn’t simply be advertisements for your product or service!
• Provide Utility or Timely Information
  Related to my previous point, user will not long tolerate a useless or “once-a-week” widgets that take up desktop real estate without delivering timely (hopefully real time or semi-mealtime) information. Great – so you got the user to download the widget – what next.  User will not continue to stare at the “Tip of the Week” desktop widget that gets updated once a month – that’s what email is for!
• Understand Widget Security
  Widgets do not provide the most secure computing environments, so avoid using them to storing sensitive information (such as password or payment information). Because of the persistence of desktop widgets, they are usually “always on” even when a user is away from their computer. Since most widgets don’t allow you to logout, avoid deploying widgets that may compromise a user’s privacy or enable unauthorized e-commerce transactions, that’s just a lawsuit waiting to happen!
• When it Comes to Widgets – Size Matters
  Keep your widgets small! By small I am referring both to their memory footprint (this will affect download speed) and their physical size on the computer screen. Large desktop widgets take up too much space, which increases their likelihood of being deleted! Large web widgets compete with content on a user’s website and therefore have the same problem. I will dedicate a post later this week to talking about recommended widget sizes (subscribe to get a copy via email). For added flexibility, consider adhering to IAB standard sizes to maximize widget distribution.
• Don’t Forget about Download Usability and Bandwidth
  Download speed is important! 57% of a sample of 8000 users reported that download speed was a factor in returning to a site, but 67% found ease of use a first priority. Make sure you design your widget landing page so its easy to use and that you have enough bandwidth from your hosting provider or your development partner to ensure a quick and pleasant widget download experience.
• Submit, Submit, Submit
  Be sure to submit your widget to all the widget directories that make sense! Also considering creating a Widgetbox and iGoogle version of your widget just to get into their directories. Getting listed in a widget directory can result in added exposure, traffic and generally has SEO (search engine optimization) benefits.

Here are some other great resources to look at before designing or developing your widget:

• Clearspring: Widget Best Practicies
• ClickZ: Best Practicies for Deploying Widgets
• iMediaConnection: 4 Widget Best Practicies
• StickiWidgets: 10 Things to Consider when Building Widgets
• Spephan Spencer’s: Widget Best Practicies
• Widgets Lab: Elements of a Winning Widget
• Niall Kennedy: Optimizing and Scaling Web Widget Performance

• Facebook Widgets Do’s and Don’t
• Javascript Widget Approaches
• Widget Development on Flash Platform
• How to Build a Widget
• Google Best Practicies

Warning: Please consult your widget development professional as to how this information could apply to your situation, since widget deployment results will vary.

We recently helped our client The Printed Blog with the design of their website and corporate brand.  The Printed Blog, currently in beta, just got written up in the Wired Blog in an article that talks about the site’s unique approach:

As old media races to catch up with the Web and figure out how to successfully monetize print content online, one publication is taking a drastically different approach: web to print.

Founded by serial entrepreneur Joshua Karp, The Printed Blog essentially wants to bring “the Best of the Web to your newsstand” by publishing a regular newspaper featuring news and editorial from popular blogs.  In designing The Printed Blog corporate site, we tried to go for a very clean consumer-ish look that would appeal to potential advertisers, partners and press – yet at the same time would remain distinctly Web 2.0. Tell us what you think of the design!