Widgets are starting to show their potential as an effective form of interactive advertising. Widgets allow for a deeper level of interaction as apposed to traditional banner ads, by the fact that they are meant to be shared. Also, brands can endear themselves to influential blogger by allowing them to wear these widgets as a sort of badge of honor, or by providing them with a useful tool. Companies and websites are learning that providing widgets to bloggers and social networking sites can turn their fans into a sales force, or at least a media department. Seth Godin would be proud.

If you are looking for effective widgets, check out the one below from the Superbad site. Or check out that funky clock in my sidebar. Both are good examples. More companies are going to catch on, and then you can expect a flood of this kind of advertising. Most of them will be awful, but hopefully a few will be truly remarkable. Enjoy.

P.s. Sites that have widgets on facebook are seeing huge increases in traffic. Check out Quantcast’s recent report on the facebook effect.

About The Author - My name is Stirling McLaughlin. I am married. I am an Art Director, Designer and Illustrator. I work at Atmosphere BBDO. I have lots of ideas. I have a baby girl named Nika Bean. I live in New York City. When I was in college, they put me on TV because I wore a mask and yelled at people. I have a reality show that I wil be starting… any day now. - See My Portfolio