An independent study earlier this year found that developer activity on Facebook was cooling off, and it declared the social network's outlook as a platform "murky" at best. At the same time, MySpace began charging developers to get their widgets noticed.

All the signs pointed toward an end to the widget boom, but developers are now finding new ways to make a profit as brands rely more and more on social network applications to create word-of-mouth buzz.

Slide, the largest widget maker on Facebook and MySpace, has been inundated with advertising requests and is opening a New York office to help cash in on the craze. Other large widget makers, like RockYou and Social Gaming Network, are also putting together ad-sales teams, according to a Washington Post report.

"The number of advertising inquiries we receive on our site has seen tenfold growth in the past year," said Sonya Chawla, general manager of advertising at Slide. "We went to where the brand advertising dollars are, and that's New York."

While some brands build applications based on their product, others are taking over existing widgets. Sony Pictures worked with RockYou and re-branded the popular Vampires Facebook application to promote the film "30 Days of Night."

While brands may be sinking money into widget-based campaigns, it may not translate into profits.

"There's no data we can point to that says how it impacted store sales, but it certainly feels good knowing people engaged with the brand in ways they normally wouldn't," said Ian Schafer of Deep Focus, which worked with Slide on a campaign for Vitamin Water.