Google Gadgets: A Plethora of Blog Add-Ons
Posted on October 3, 2006
Google has announced the launch of Google Gadgets. Google Gadgets is a directory of over 1,000 objects that can be added to your blog or webpage by cutting and pasting the Javascript code located under each Google Gagdet. Categories include news, tools, communicatoin, fun and games, finance, sports, lifestyle and technology. The gadgets themselves range from time clocks to Bushisms.
Google Gadgets are miniature-sized objects that offer cool and dynamic content that can be placed on any page on the web. A directory of "Google Gadgets for your webpage" is now available for webpage owners everywhere to browse and select gadgets for their own pages, at http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open.Many of the gadgets in Google Gadgets were created by third party developers and not by Google themselves. Developers can learn how to create gadgets here. Google Gadgets is basically just an XML file that is used to call up existing web content or applications. Google says they can be created in as little as five minutes. The most recently created Google Gadgets can be found here."Now anyone can have a great-looking website with automatically updating content," said Adam Sah, Google Gadgets Architect. "By making Google Gadgets available for you to add to your webpage, we're working to connect developers with enthusiastic consumers and to make information universally accessible and useful to the individual user."
With almost no effort and at no cost, webpage owners can add complex, dynamically updating content to their own websites using Google Gadgets. Because there is such an enormous variety of Google Gadgets to choose from, webmasters also have a great deal of freedom to select only the gadgets that will best complement their own page. There are games, news clips, weather reports, maps, and more.