• CNET Provides Branded Widgets, But Who Will Use Them?

    Friday, December 7th, 2007

    Mark Hendrickson is the product lead at Lift. . Formerly, he was the CEO and co-founder of the consumer internet company Worldly Developments and, prior to that, a writer and web designer for TechCrunch. → Learn More

    CNET Networks, the parent company for CNET.com, MP3.com, TV.com, GameSpot and several other web destinations, has released a set of widgets for embedding their videos on non-CNET websites.

    The widgets are well-designed and currently available for BNET, CHOW, CNET.com, GameSpot, and TV.com. Whichever the source, they show some branding, a video clip, a selection of other video clips, and an advertisement. We’ve embedded one from GameSpot below (although they say it can take up to 15 minutes for the widget to start working).

    In CNET’s words, these are meant to “offer publishers the opportunity to integrate quality editorial and programming from five CNET Networks brands into their site environments.” Will CNET share revenue from the advertising with participating sites, or pay them for spreading their brand? That doesn’t look like the case, especially since CNET insists that the widgets are meant to “enhance their users’ site experience, increase user engagement, and expand their ability to offer quality video.”

    We’ve submitted an inquiry to CNET for more details, but I don’t think they’ve provided enough incentive for publishers to spread these. Perhaps they expect that only publishers with which they have formed customized partnerships will use them.

    Content from our trusted partner GameSpot

    http://ocp.gamespot.com/ocp-client?epartner=SS071206234244&ocpmodule=gs:video:300×550

    Get your own CNET Networks Widget.>GET IT NOW
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