Video in Widgets

ScanScout Partners With Clearspring

Expanding the reach of its contextual in-video ad technology, ScanScout today is expected to announce a distribution deal with widget company Clearspring Technologies. The partnership gives advertisers within the ScanScout network access to broad viral distribution across some 25 social platforms, including MySpace, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo. "Our partnership enables ScanScout to provide advertisers an automated way to essentially 'widgetize' their video ads bringing broader reach and interest to their message," said Hooman Radfar, co-founder and chief executive officer of Clearspring. Over the last two years, widgets have surged in popularity because their presence is controlled entirely by the users themselves--unlike pop-ups--and are generally used to complement social networking and blogging experiences. Indeed, according to comScore, nearly 148 million U.S. consumers--or 81% of Web users--viewed widgets in November of last year. Widget ads, meanwhile, are expected to boost social network advertising by 70% to $1.6 billion in 2008, according to a recent projection by eMarketer.

Hooman Radfar will be making a keynote address at the WidgetWebExpo in June