The future of advertising?

clipped from www.businessweek.com Bits of code called widgets open the door to viral marketing across social networks. Silicon Valley sees them as a Web revolution in the making Widgets also can turn any blog or Web site, no matter how small, into an ad platform. Tumri, an online advertising startup, has developed widget storefronts for Wal-Mart , online shoe store Zappos.com, Macy's , and Sears. Any little guy with a Web page can sign up for the Tumri widget stores and pick which product categories to advertise or sell on their site. A fashion blogger, for example, may opt to sell high-end handbags from Macy's. So long as the merchant doesn't object to its goods appearing there, the publisher plunks the widget onto his site. Tumri often splits the revenue it receives for each click, 50/50, with the Web site generating the clicks and ad impressions.