Some Thoughts on Widget Installation, Timing, Communication and Ethics

During the panel that I moderated at Graphing Social Patterns this week, Jodi McDermott from Clearspring noted that companies can swap out what's inside of a widget to extend the life of the widget. This is something everyone knows but is it something we've actually thought about from the publisher's perspective?

Widgets are great as they provide more interactivity than any other form of advertising. Whether it's a brand, a company, a Web site, a blog or any online service, widgets bring users closer than ever before. When a user installs a widget that was sent to them or one they found and shared, what terms of use come bundled with the widget? Most widgets I've run have never asked for my acceptance of any terms -- they just allow for immediate installation.

Let's assume that The Incredible Hulk movie purchases widget placements through a widget distributor. Fans of the Hulk install the fun widget on their Web sites and blogs. The movie is now out of theaters and the ad run is over. Can the widget distributor now stick anything they want into the slot? Do the Web sites have to approve the swap? At a minimum, should the Web site or blog publisher be notified of the change? The panelists believed that brands wouldn't want to hurt their reputation with customers so they would never swap out the widget content with something controversial. While I agree with this, most brands are currently using a third-party to handle the widget management - can we trust these companies the same way?

The easy answer is to say that the publisher will see the changed content and remove the widget if needed. That's easy to assume if the widget is installed site-wide. But if the widget has been installed on a specific content page, the publisher won't see it until it's potentially too late.

The IAB and other industry groups have begun to discuss standards for widgets and widget advertising. Should we begin to discuss standards for usage and widget lifetimes? When you install a widget, should there be a clear understanding of how the widget will be used, both today and in the future? I say yes.