Recently, particularly within the last few years, widgets have become a huge online phenomenon. Believed to have received popularity from the social networking site MySpace, today an Internet user can find a widget almost anywhere that suits their needs and interests.
First of all- what exactly is a widget? Since the creation of the term, the widget has expanded to mean many different things. Originally, a widget was simply a small, mechanical device. Since this initial introduction of the word, widgets have been explained as something that, “displays information and invites the user to act in a number of different ways,” or as a, “piece of self-contained code — a small application actually, that opens up a doorway to a much larger application,” or furthermore, to those informed in programming lingo, “the part of a GUI that allows the user to interface with the application and operating system”. Please see source here.
Second- where can widgets be found? Widgets have a host of different uses including but not limited to: desktop widgets, web widgets, and mobile widgets.
Desktop widgets
Desktop widgets, simply put are widgets that are hosted on, and run on your desktop. More specifically desktop widgets, “enable the user to view on demand, capsuled information from predetermined data sources. Ideally, a desktop widget must present personalized content, based on the user’s preferences. It is supposed to beam the most important information that a user requires on a day-to-day basis. Most of the desktop widgets are available as free downloads from the vendors’ Web sites”. There are four primary places in which desktop widgets have emerged: Apple Dashboard, Microsoft Windows Vista Sidebar, Google Desktop Gadgets, and Yahoo! Widgets (Konfabulator). Desktop widgets are unique from web widgets because they run outside of a browser. They, “blur the line between the web and the desktop by pulling the content out of the browser and integrating it into your desktop”. Early examples of desktop widgets were the calculator and alarm clock. Since then, desktop widgets have expanded to include anything from local movie listings and times to alcoholic-beverage creators with full-on descriptions of what is contained within popular cocktail drinks.
Web Widgets
Web widgets have several other names such as, gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. “The first known web widget, Trivia Blitz, was introduced in 1997. It was a game applet offered by Uproar.com (the leading online game company from 2000 – 2001) that appeared on over 35,000 websites ranging from Geocities personal pages to CNN and Tower Records”. See source here. Widgets often take the form of on-screen tools (clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc). Web widgets today are the most commercially exploited of all widget forms because of their ability to promote virility and interactivity. Probably the most recognizable use of web-based widgets is on the social networking site Facebook. Applications, as they are called on Facebook, have gotten mixed signals from social networkers because of their unique usages that are often seen fun, yet apart from the original intentions of what a social networking site should be. Bumper stickers, which appears to be a fad that came and went, is an application that allow networkers to send virtual “stickers” to their friends to add a more personal look to their page. Other Facebook examples include: We’re Related (an application that let’s you claim family members,) Fan sites (that offer facts, game schedules, team updates, etc…,) Quizzes (determine which alcoholic beverage, show character, past life identity, etc…,) the list could go on.
Mobile Widgets
Mobile widgets are similar to desktop widgets except for the fact that, SURPRISE, they are intended for your mobile device. With mobile widgets sometimes a widget engine is required, while in other instances, you may be required only to point your mobile browser to a special URL to access the widget. In Goozeberry’s blog posting called “Where mobile widgets come alive- easily, he says, “Much like desktop widgets, for your phone you can find: clocks, BBC News, Sudoku, Wikipedia, Digg, engadget, flickr, technorati, et al. So in addition to plain RSS-reader type widgets, some have simple functionality (games, chatting, email, etc)”.
As stated in a previous post, 60% of iPhone users surf the web at least once a day. With web accessibility nearly everywhere, and obvious enthusiasm about the idea of being “always connected” via cell phone amongst users, mobile widgets are one of many ways people will organize the information they receive, and create a better online/offline experience via phone. For marketers, widgets are a way to create highly personalized messages, and cater them to users directly through their mobile devices.
Widget Metrics
Metrics provide marketers and advertisers with detailed information about the content they create. Although the numbers are sometimes confusing, and the statistics misleading, it is commonplace for companies to request this type of information to determine whether or not a particular execution was successful. Since the introduction of widgets, research companies have been attempting to nail down the needed metrics to accurately detail a widgets livelihood. For now, widget metrics appear to be broken down loosely into four categories: internal metrics (analytics gathered within the widget,) external metrics (analytics about the widget’s surrounding area,) multichannel metrics (the various formats of a particular widget,) and viral metrics (metrics regarding when the widget or information from the widget is sent to someone else). It appears as widgets gain popularity the analytic techniques will become more efficient and effective.
Leave a Comment
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
