Widgets make a big splash on the Net - USATODAY.com

Americans, meanwhile, are fast catching on to the joys of the snazzy new mini-programs. Awareness and use of widgets among online users, which was less than 5% in early 2007, has zoomed to more than 39% and 26%, respectively, says JupiterResearch.

Venture capitalists have taken note. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures and Sequoia Capital are pumping millions of dollars into widget makers. Dave McClure, an angel investor in Silicon Valley, wouldn’t be shocked if iLike, Slide, RockYou and others eventually go public or become prime takeover targets. “Any traditional media company who wants to get serious online could be a suitor,” he says.

Max Levchin, CEO of Slide, the largest widget maker, with 134 million monthly viewers across the major social networks, likens the entrepreneurial climate among widget makers to the early 1980s, when software companies such as Adobe Systems developed applications for PCs. “It’s a really exciting time for software development,” says Levchin, who also co-founded online-payment processor PayPal.

“The possibility of going public has never been better for us,” says Jia Shen, chief technology officer and co-founder of RockYou, makers of a widget that turns anyone’s photos into slide shows. The 2-year-old company boasts 40 million monthly viewers across the major social networks.

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