Myth #7: Widgets are blind
Another widget myth is that widgets aren't informed by the pages on which they appear. Sure, you can add a widget to a social network, a blog or myriad other sites, but the widget (and its owner) can't possibly know what else is going on a web page.

Think again.

Like Facebook and MySpace, widgets are informed by social data. Each widget can be used to construct a unique social graph that tracks both user demographics and time spent with that widget across the web. In this way, publishers can collect data valuable to advertisers about entire communities of web users.

As of now, many publishers aren't making use of this data. They may allow widgets, but they're not yet collecting the data about their users. "In a sense these widgets are now untethered," Alterman says. Publishers need to collect data, organize it and use the data to feed ads. Every website needs to find a way to feed its own widgets.

Myth #8: Widgets don't bring traffic
Another common complaint about widgets is that they don't drive traffic to a widget publisher's website. According to Choy, if that's the case, the publisher isn't using the widget correctly. As an easy example, Choy says he has spent exactly zero dollars marketing his website but sees 11 million unique visitors via widgets.

Perhaps one reason this myth has persisted is that many of the main web metrics companies still struggle to track how widgets affect the flow of web traffic. Last year comScore launched a widget-specific metrics service to help determine exactly how and where widgets are being used.

Myth #9: Widgets aren't viral
If a widget isn't viral, then the advertiser or publisher behind the widget hasn't done his or her job well. Advertisers still getting comfortable with the medium tend to rely on old tools such as lots of text presented in a less-than-thrilling way.

To make widgets viral they have to contain video, photos or music, as well as some content that offers genuine value to users. Another key to virality is the ability to generate clickthrough traffic to an advertiser's own site.

An added bonus, Choy says, would be some sort of user-generated component that consumers can share with their friends.

Leah Messinger is a freelance writer.