Web widget

This article is about web page code widgets. For other uses, see widget.

A web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are derived from the idea of code reuse. Other terms used to describe web widgets include: gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. Web widgets usually but not always use DHTML, JavaScript, or Adobe Flash.

Widgets often take the form of on-screen tools (clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc).

Widgets

Embeddable chunks of code have existed since the start of the World Wide Web. Web developers have long sought and used third party code chunks in their pages. It could be said that the original web widgets were the link counters and advertising banners that grew up alongside the early web.

A widget is 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. Widgets are also known as modules, snippets, and plug-ins.

The first widely syndicated web widget, Trivia Blitz, was introduced in 1997. It was a java game applet offered by Uproar.com embedded on 15,200 websites as of December 31, 1998 and 36,100 websites as of December 31, 1999. It spread virally through an "add this game to your website" button. Sites that carried the game ranged from Geocities and Tripod personal pages to CNN and Tower Records. Uproar paid sites a referral fee for new users that registered through the widget. When Uproar.com was acquired by Vivendi Universal in 2001, the widget was discontinued.

Widgets are now commonplace and are used by bloggers, social network users, auction sites and owners of personal web sites. They exist on home page sites such as iGoogle, Netvibes, or Pageflakes. Browser-based tools for creating and hosting widgets include Microsoft Popfly, Widgetbox, and zembly. Widgets distribution platforms such as Clearspring and Gigya are now used to seed and distribute widgets as Rich media Advertisement units. Media and entertainment companies are increasingly using widgets to run Ad campaigns. Widgets are used as a distribution method by ad networks such as Google’s AdSense, by media sites such as Flickr, by video sites such as YouTube and by hundreds of other organizations.

Usage and criticism

Applications can be integrated within a third party website by the placement of a small snippet of code. The code brings in ‘live’ content – advertisements, links, images – from a third party site without the web site owner having to update or control.

End users can utilize Web Widgets to enhance a number of web-based hosts, or drop targets. Categories of drop targets include social networks, blogs, wikis and personal homepages. Although end users primarily use Web Widgets to enhance their personal web experiences, or the web experiences of visitors to their personal sites, corporations can potentially use Web Widgets to improve their web sites using syndicated content and functionality from third party providers.

The use of web widgets has been increasingly proposed as a marketing channel that could replace the less effective targeted banner ads and take advantage of the viral distribution in social networks. This usage has been criticized as ineffective ^[1] on the basis that users of a social space are not mainly in a mindset receptive to information exposition but one of content creation.

Security considerations

As any program code, widgets can be used for malicious purposes. One example is the Facebook “Secret Crush” widget, reported in early 2008 by Fortinet as luring users to install Zango adware.^[2]

Widget management systems

Widget management systems offer a method of managing widgets that works on any web page, such as a blog or social networking home page. Many blog systems like Wordpress or Movable Type come with built in widget management systems as plug-ins. Users can obtain widgets and other widget management tools from widget companies such as Clearspring, Widgetbox or TheWidgetFactory.

Mobile Web widget

A Mobile Web widget is a web widget that is made or designed for access on mobile device.

References

^ Why Widgets Don't Work, BusinessWeek 2008, March 3
^ "Widget inflicts malware - Facebook ignores advisory?". blog.anta.net. 2008-01-05. ISSN 1797-1993. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

[1] Why Widgets Don't Work, BusinessWeek 2008, March 3

[2] "Widget inflicts malware - Facebook ignores advisory?". blog.anta.net. 2008-01-05. ISSN 1797-1993. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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