AOL?s digital advertising arm
Platform-A announced today the addition of AOL subsidiary Goowy?s widget creation
and management service to its advertisement distribution offer. By putting
together creation, syndication and measurement tools into a single package, the
new feature aims to provide a key-in-hand solution for implementing
widget-based promotion campaigns.
In concrete terms,
advertisers can use Goowy to create their own customised widgets and circulate
them throughout Platform-A?s distribution network, which extends beyond the
platform?s own media properties to include several thousands of sites within
third-party network Advertising.com.
Widgets can be served as advertisements
through the Bebo and Facebook applications that are part of Advertising.com?s
Widgnet publisher network. They are also
?grabbable? by users and therefore easy to embed within third-party sites,
fully leveraging the viral potential of social advertising.
The press release
announcing the launching stresses that in contrast with the extra Cost Per Mil (CPM) rates charged
by other (un-named) widget providers, the new service is available to all Platform-A's
clients at no extra charge. Widget
publishers can also use Goowy for free by joining the Widgnet publisher network
and agreeing to display advertising within their widgets, with the revenue
generated to be shared out between the publisher and the host network.
President of Platform-A Lynda
Clarizio insists on the increased scope widget-based promotional content brings
to advertising campaigns, voicing her assurance that, ?Widget-based advertising
is gaining momentum in the industry, and Platform-A?s network approach allows
our customers to build brands, encourage interaction, and drive site traffic ?
all at scale.? Intended to illustrate
this added value, an example of a widget-based campaign is pointed to in the press
release.
Acquired by AOL in February
2008, Goowy Media is part of the company?s People Networks business unit,
which encompasses social media network Bebo, the AIM and ICQ personal
communications network, as well as social search and answer service Yedda.