There's a land grab under way in Silicon Valley. Not in real land (even in Tech Town, home sales are sagging), but on the Web. What's fueling the frenzy is something that couldn't sound more prosaic: widgets.In the Web world, widgets are modules of software that people can drag and drop onto the personal page of their social network or onto a blog. There, widgets typically look like a little window or box, packing a bit of the functionality that you would get with a stand-alone Web site or software package. The result can be as mundane as the WeatherBug, or a YouTube clip of your favorite video of a bulldog riding a skateboard, or your wish list from online jewelry retailer Blue Nile (NILE).
But widgets also can be storefront windows for selling products and services or digital billoards to which customized ads can be affixed. Create one that plays your favorite song and it can send visitors through to Amazon.com (AMZN) to buy the band's album. Random House Inc. has a widget that lets you click through to buy new book releases from the company's online store. You might even share a slice of the proceeds.
The land grab comes from the sudden realization by software developers, media companies, and retailers that by widgetizing their programs, news snippets, video clips, and products, they can stake out some prime Web real estate. People are increasingly spending their time with like-minded souls at blogs, online communities, and social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace (NWS), Hi5, and Tagged. In a sense, creating widgets is like unleashing a cloud of benign viruses. They carry your storefront or video clip or ad to anyone's Web page or profile. And those who like them can share them with thousands of people. They multiply, and as they do, they alter the very geography of the Web.
Read More
