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The term “widget” used to bring to mind George Jetson and his employer Spacely’s Sprockets, where poor George’s job was to count unnamed, hypothetical manufactured parts, cogs, thingamajigs. But for a new generation of internet users and advertisers, widgets are an increasingly popular customization and marketing tool. Users can access web content from various sources with just one click, while advertisers can catch a ride on non-commercial websites like MySpace.

Widgets are tiny applications that reside on a user’s desktop or web page. They allow you to stream information from various sources in a non-intrusive manner, enabling everyday internet users to add professional-looking content to their personal web pages or desktops. This symbiotic relationship is beneficial to both the widget developers and the individual users; the developer gets exposure without annoying banner ads or videos that take over the screen, while users get a more attractive, interactive interface. Traditionally, destination websites like Yahoo! or Google would wait for web traffic to come their way, then make money from the advertising on their sites. With the release of widgets they can now troll for traffic; an email monitor that alerts the user to unread messages, for example, will pull users back to Gmail, and back to the advertising.

Commonly downloaded widgets include everything from automatically updated weather and stock information, news feeds, maps, chat boxes, search tools, airline schedules, and even games. Microsoft Flight Simulator for Xbox has released a widget that lets users check weather information by flying to any airport to obtain the latest from the National Weather Service. This provides a teaser for the video game as well as the information that a user was seeking.

The technology is being customized by programmers for all markets, both for commercial gain and for fun. A quick search of Yahoo!’s widget gallery reveals everything from wind speed monitors for surfers to applications counting down to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. The variety is astounding, and it speaks to the Web 2.0 trend towards customization. Individual users and businesses alike can carve out a niche for themselves in cyberspace, making the most banal daily task, like checking the weather, a personalized experience.

Friday, October 19th, 2007 Both comments and pings are currently closed.

By Haley January Eckels