Widget syndicator Clearspring launches ad network

By Eric Auchard

LONDON (Reuters) - Clearspring Technologies Inc, the leading independent provider of "widget" software for syndicating Web site features or content, said on Monday that it was introducing a network for distributing advertising.

The Widget Ad Network allows Web publishers to run ads on affiliated sites inside widgets, which are Web tools or games that a user can embed on their social network profiles, home pages or blogs and share with friends.

Unlike conventional online advertising that is served up to users by Web sites, widget ads are distributed by the users themselves, potentially offering a much faster way to expand the audience for an ad.

Initial advertisers taking part in the Widget Ad Network are cell phone service Virgin Mobile, video rental site Blockbuster Online, movie studio Lionsgate Films and The Learning Channel, Clearspring executives said.

Publishers joining Clearspring's ad network include two News Corp units -- Fox TV and Twentieth Century Fox Television -- along with The Huffington Post blog and the National Hockey League.

McLean, Virginia-based Clearspring will also use its widgets to deliver interactive ads from Gannett Co Inc.'s PointRoll, the largest provider of so-called rich media online advertising.

The PointRoll ads, called SnaggableAds, can incorporate advertising from any of its 1,500 clients alongside widgets such as games, animated cartoons, audio, video, or dynamic Web data. The more compelling the widget, the greater the likelihood that users will grab it and spread it to other Web pages.

Clearspring says it is the first to offer a widget-based advertising network that runs across independent sites. It builds its widgets so that users quickly can embed interesting content on social networks like News Corp's MySpace, Facebook or Friendster.