This past weekend Vendio Services announced that it has launched Widgipedia.com (not to be confused with Wikipedia), a new site that aggregates the worldwide Web of widgets. You might ask, “What is a widget?” Well, according to Widgipedia:
“A web widget (also called an online widget) is basically a standalone ’section’ that can be embedded in any web page, such as your personal blog, a MySpace page, an eBay auction page or paan online store pages. The widget usually resides in a rectangular area on the page and its behavior is independent of other sections from the page.”
While widget-land is currently dominated by offerings that are designed to satisfy the masses’ need for entertainment, content providers like YouTube and Flickr have built successful business models around the concept. I wouldn’t be surprised to see information providers (TV networks or newspapers, say) begin using the widget as a new distribution method for online content, generating additional income through ad revenue and subscription sales.
According to Widgetbox, some of the most popular widgets available include YouTube videos, PollDaddy.com polls, Google’s Mp3 player, Flickr slideshows, Technorati’s Blog Post Tracker, and the Yahoo! Finance Badge. My current favorite is Marcos Weskamp’s Newsmap widget (see it in action here), a widget that reflects the ever changing landscape of Google’s news aggregator.
Don’t think that the widget will amount to much in the long run? Consider this: MySpace partnered with SNOCAP in September 2006, allowing bands to embed SNOCAP music store widgets into their profiles. With more than 3 million bands signed on (and a 39-cent commission to Snocap for each track sold), it’s a feature that will surely widget its way to the bank. Newly created independent music agency Merlin (dubbed the fifth virtual major label) has recently signed an agreement with Snocap to allow “potentially thousands of independent labels” to distribute music through MySpace profiles. According to this article on News.com, independent artists account for nearly 40% of the music market.
You do the math.
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