Here’s yet another article trying to push the viability of advertising on widgets. Frankly, I think the whole notion is bunk. And to make the argument, I’m going to pick heavily on this quote from the article:

…commonly in question is whether widgets should carry advertising messages and, if so, whether they can do so successfully.

The answer to the first question is simple: Yes, they should. Most widgets are free, and some of them provide their adopters with significant utilities, either as tools or sources of entertainment. Thus, widgets carry value, and subsidizing their existence with advertising seems reasonable.

The answer to the second question is not as simple. To date, most marketing uses of widgets have been limited in some fashion. In general, widgets used to carry advertising messages have either been limited to marketers’ own sites, or the widgets have been limited in terms of where they will go on the web.

By their very definition widgets are intended to supply focused—not limited—utility for the owner. They are designed to deliver information, entertainment, or organizational tools directly to the adapter without all the content and ad clutter of web pages. And they should be built with some specificity for where they’ll be on the web; a Facebook application has different context—and therefore different utility and experience—than a blog application, or a desktop application.

Of course widgets carry value. But the value is gained by the brand providing a service to a user in a positive micro-interaction, not via ad dollar subsidies from a third party. So the only place “ads” on widgets should lead is to the marketer’s site—that’s the way your patron will learn more, deepen the brand experience or better yet, give you feed back on how to make the widget even more useful.*

A good B-2-B example that puts these ideas into practice are these desktop widgets built for IBM business partners and sales force. They all exhibit targeted brand communication for the provider and focused utility for the adapter; a positive experience sans “Free Credit Check!” noise.

*And here’s the one caveat: If you are the Weather Channel, CNN or other media outlet that relies solely on ad revenue to make money, you should feel free to place “banner ads” on your widget… just know that those will be ignored as often as they are on your website.