Newsgator, National Geographic create co-branded widgets

A new puzzle widget has consumers logging on to play and marketers logging on to co-brad. The widgets, created by a partnership with Newsgator and National Geographic, feature a puzzle that consumers are going wild for; marketers have seen the amount of time consumers are spending and are co-branding the widgets to place on their own sites.

by Kristina Knight

The puzzles are actually pictures cut into jigsaw shapes. The viral widgets have been adopted by brands like Tampa Bay Online and Dayton Daily News. The OurShot and YourShot widgets allow consumers to contribute photos to the widgets; some photos are actually chosen to become puzzles. These widgets can be co-branded by publishers or marketers and featured on-site at no charge. The first month (30 days) of launch for the widgets have seen 23 media websites adopt the syndicated widgets.

"With the puzzle widget, we have really been able to extend our brand through co-branding, now allowing our partner sites to get up and running with the diget smoothly and efficiently through a single URL," said Rob Cover, managing editor/creative director of National Geographic.

Widgets are a hugely popular social feature for consumers who are adding the widgets to their social networking sites at huge rates. By co-branding a widget or sponsoring the content of a widget, marketers have the potential to reach many more consumers; consumers are more likely to pay attention to all of the content - even the adspace - in a widget because they see widgets as "recommended" by their peers.

Tags: Newsgator, social marketing, syndicated widgets, widget advertising, widgets