Just as new technology is changing the game of golf, allowing players to drive balls longer and straighter, new mini-software applications called "widgets" are providing marketers unprecedented access to hard-to-reach targets.

If you spend any time on Facebook and MySpace you will have witnessed the explosion of widgets in 2007. According to ComScore, more than 220 million folks used widgets in the month of May alone. iLike, which allows Facebook users to share their iTunes playlists, grew to more than 10 million users in its first 10 months. Slide, which allows users to create slideshows and embed them into their social network homepages, claims to be the largest personal media network in the world, reaching 120 million unique viewers every month. Expect savvy marketers to test the limits of widgets in 2008.