WebProNews

Tag: widgets

  • Pinterest Now Lets You Embed Bigger Pins On Your Site

    Pinterest announced that it is now letting you embed bigger pins on your website or blog.

    You’ve long been able to embed pins, but until now, they’ve been relatively small and frankly not that pleasing to the eye. They would only go 237 pixels wide.

    Now there are three sizes available up to 600 pixels wide. The pin widget also automatically adjusts to fit any screen.

    “Plus, early tests from Huffington Post have shown that these new larger Pin widgets are more click-worthy,” says Pinterest’s Lauren Frederick. “After giving the larger Pins a try, their clickthrough rates increased by 8x.”

    You can check out the widget builder here. You can also embed existing pins by crabbing the code from the three-dot icon on the pin.

    In other Pinterest news, the company is tightening the focus of its advertising efforts. While anyone will still be able to advertise via the self-serve platform and marketing partners, the company will only offer its hands-on support and consultation to retailers and consumer goods companies.

    Images via Pinterest

  • Google Tweaks Guidance On Link Schemes

    Google has made a subtle, but noteworthy change to its help center article on link schemes, which is part of its quality guidelines dissuading webmasters from engaging in spammy SEO tactics.

    Google put out a video last summer about adding rel=”nofollow” to links that are included in widgets:

    In that, Matt Cutts, Google’s head of webspam, said, “I would not rely on widgets and infographics as your primary way to gather links, and I would recommend putting a nofollow, especially on widgets, because most people when they just copy and paste a segment of code, they don’t realize what all is going with that, and it’s usually not as much of an editorial choice because they might not see the links that are embedded in that widget.”

    “Depending on the scale of the stuff that you’re doing with infographics, you might consider putting a rel nofollow on infographic links as well,” he continued. “The value of those things might be branding. They might be to drive traffic. They might be to sort of let people know that your site or your service exists, but I wouldn’t expect a link from a widget to necessarily carry the same weight as an editorial link freely given where someone is recommending something and talking about it in a blog post. That sort of thing.”

    In Google’s guidance for link schemes, it gives “common examples of unnatural links that may violate our guidelines.”

    It used to include: “Links embedded in widgets that are distributed across various sites.”

    As Search Engine Land brings to our attention, that part now reads: “Keyword-rich, hidden or low-quality links embedded in widgets that are distributed across various sites.”

    That’s a little more specific, and seems to indicate that the previous guidance cast a broader net over such links than what Google really frowns upon. That’s worth noting.

    You’d do well to pay attention to what Google thinks about link schemes, as the search engine has made a big point of cracking down on them lately (even if some have gotten off lightly).

  • Pinterest Partners With Telefónica On Android Widget

    Pinterest Partners With Telefónica On Android Widget

    Pinterest announced on Thursday that it has a new partnership with Telefónica, which will see a Pinterest Android widget made available to subscribers in the UK.

    The widget is available now, but Pinterest says it will become available in more countries in the coming weeks.

    “This updated Android experience makes it easy to see fresh pins and notifications without opening the app – it brings your pins right to your home screen. Even if you’re not signed in, you can see a mix of the most popular pins,” explains product manager Michael Yamartino.

    “The Widget will be installed by default on new Telefónica phones and available as part of the Pinterest Android app in Google Play,” he adds. “As Pinterest reaches more people around the world, we want to bring a great experience that helps people find inspiration for the everyday projects in their lives, wherever they are.”

    As part of the deal, Telefónica’s mobile businesses, including Vivo, O2 and Movistar, will have exclusive rights to provide the widget.

    “To be the first partner for Pinterest is a huge opportunity and a great testament to Telefonica’s reach, as well as Pinterest’s global ambitions,” said Wayne Thorsen, Vice President of Global Partnerships at Telefónica Digital. “Our agreement is the foundation of a deeper relationship. As the Pinterest service explodes in popularity, we are now in a position to bring the best possible mobile Pinterest experience to our Android customers around the world.”

    “Interests are global, which is why we want Pinterest to be available wherever people want to find ideas for the everyday projects in their lives and get inspired for the future,” said Don Faul, Head of Operations at Pinterest. “Telefónica is one of the world’s most advanced communications companies, and together we can provide a one-of-a-kind mobile experience to new and existing pinners around the globe.”

    On Wednesday, Pinterest announced that its new ad platform, Promoted Pins, is now live. More on that here.

    Image: Pinterest

  • Spotify Launches Embeddable Charts for Top Tracks

    Spotify Launches Embeddable Charts for Top Tracks

    In a bid to expand its presence across the web, streaming music service Spotify has just launched Spotify Charts, which allow sites to embed clickable lists of the top tracks across the network.

    The charts, which will update every Monday, feature both the top 50 most-streamed tracks of the week and the top 50 most-shared tracks of the week. They’re called the “Spotify 50” and the “Social 50,” respectively.

    “What’s so powerful about the streaming charts is they let you hear what people are really listening to, right now, and not just what they’re buying,” says content head Steve Savoca.

    The widget, which is available here at charts.spotify.com, is customizable based on country and can be cycled back to reveal the top 50 tracks for the previous 4 weeks. Last month, Spotify expanded into Mexico and other parts of Asia and Europe, bringing the total countries under the umbrella to 28.

    Here’s what the widget looks like. Notice the new global play counts, which will also appear on the desktop app.

    Non-signed-in users will be able to browse the top tracks, but will have to log-in to their accounts in order to listen. It’s a great new way for Spotify to get more attention, and a cool way for music lovers to see what their country is currently obsessed with. This week in the U.S., it’s Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us,” Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” and Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive.”

    In March, Spotify announced that they currently have 6 million piad subscribers out of a total 24 million users. Earlier this month, Spotify bought music discovery app Tunigo.

  • Learn How To Make Great Widgets For Android

    One of the more unique aspects of Android is its support for home screen Widgets. This support was introduced with Android 1.5 and developers have since created a number of unique, and sometimes utterly amazing, home screen widgets for Android devices.

    Of course, you may just be starting out and wand to build the best widget ever. That’s a lofty goal, but you’re going to need some help. The latest App Clinic episode from Google’s Android Developers channel has the advice and tips you need to realize your dream of building the best home screen widget ever.

  • Blogger Gets A New Google+ Widget

    Blogger Gets A New Google+ Widget

    Google has launched a “Followers Gadget” for Blogger users who want to display Google+ followers on their blogs.

    The gadget, which looks similar to Google Friend Connect, highlights your total Google+ audience. Of course, it also provides a follow button.

    “As a result, you can grow your readership across the web, and reach them either in the Google+ stream, or through your blog,” Google says.

    Google Blogger Widget

    “Those of you with the Google Friend Connect followers gadget can keep using it, if you like,” the company adds. “We retired most of Friend Connect earlier this year, but we’ll keep it running on Blogger for the foreseeable future.”

    You can learn more about connecting your Blogger blog to Google+ here. You can start by going to the “Layout” tab in the Blogger dashboard, and selecting “Add a Gadget”.

  • Why Is Your Website Lagging?

    How fast does your site load when visitors access it? Does it make users — and potential customers — wait or does it pop right up? If so, are simply blaming the hosting service, and/or the ISP and ignoring the problem? If so, you could be missing out on the fact that it’s your site, or at least, the widgets attached to it, causing the lag, and not the providers you’re using.

    According to a report (via Technology Review) from the makers of browser plug-in, Ghostery, one of the main causes of website slowdown is, provided the hosting service is working as normal and there’s nothing interfering with Internet access, all of the widgets and embeds site owners include in their site’s backend.

    In fact, if you’re going by the blog post’s text, many of the slow website loading issues can be pinned on analytics scripts and/or widgets. The post even features a graph showing the biggest offenders in relation to site slowdowns:

    Lagtags

    As you can see, one of the biggest offenders in relation to site lag is a service called Avalanchers, which appears to be blog network suggestion site, but, as Technology Review says, it also comes across as a spam-filled link-sharing network, which is just the kind of thing you want to avoid if you don’t want to get bit by Google’s Panda movement. Not only is associating your site with such networks haphazard, at least in relation to Google rankings, slow website load times are a great way to ensure visitors don’t return to your site.

    Based on the GhostRank panel findings, here are some additional points of interest, based on their findings:

    • Avalanchers’ load time exceeded its next closest competitor, AdFunky, by a whopping 1,300 milliseconds.
    • If you were to load all of these elements on one page, in succession, they would add about 22 more seconds to the page’s load time. Think about that.
    • From a transparency standpoint, most of these companies don’t disclose how long they retain the data they collect or who they share it with.

    Simply put, if you are trying to produce a quality site that appeals to your visitors — remember, we are now firmly in the grip of the holiday shopping season — avoiding these products, especially if used in conjunction with others on the list, is something to avoid. If search engine rankings, especially Google, is something you cherish, you’ll avoid these services as well. Not only does Google frown upon link-sharing networks like Avalanchers, slow-loading sites are not embraced by Google, either.

    Simply put, avoid services like these, especially if you are using a combination of them, if strong Google rankings are something you enjoy.

  • Yahoo Announces Connected TV Partnership with Toshiba

    Yahoo just announced a new partnership with Toshiba to feature Yahoo TV Widgets on several models of Toshiba’s latest 6”-55” HDTVs, including the WX800 Cinema Series 3D LED. "With the addition of Toshiba, Yahoo! now has partnerships with some of the biggest OEMs in the world, including Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio, Hisense and most recently, Vestel," representative for Yahoo tells WebProNews. 

    Yahoo says its TV Widgets are on 3.5 million TVs around the world, and that they have active users in 135 countries. Yahoo also says the widgets provide direct access to over 50,000 entertainment sources at the click of a button. 

    "Some of the most popular brands, including Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, eBay, Amazon, Blockbuster, CBS, USA Today, Showtime, YouTube, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Weather and Yahoo! Finance, have all developed TV Widgets for Yahoo! Connected TV," the representative points out.

    Yahoo TV Widgets

    "Our publicly available Widget Development Kit (WDK) also enables anyone to create a TV widget and broadcast to millions of consumers around the world,’ she continues. "Yahoo!’s scale and exposure to new audiences ensure that content developers and publishers have a vast opportunity with Yahoo! TV Widgets."

    "In the future," Yahoo says, "you will be able to find Yahoo! Connected TV on new CE devices including set top boxes, media players, Blu-Ray players, DVDs, DVRs and other devices. This is because of Yahoo!’s partnerships with global silicon and integration partners which ensure that our platform works on all major consumer electronic device chip architectures worldwide."

    Yahoo has displayed a great deal of confidence in its Connected TV strategy, and the company is going to need it, because competition is about to get tougher than ever. Google and Apple both plan on getting their versions of what connected television should be in as many homes as possible this fall. Not to mention other competitors like Boxee. However, Yahoo is clearly up to the challenge.

  • Google Voice Gets New Android Widgets

    Google Voice Gets New Android Widgets

    Google has announced the launch of some new Android widgets for Google Voice. The widgets are available in an update to the Google Voice Android app. 

    The widgets are designed to give users immediate access to their Google Voice inbox and settings from the home screen. 

    "The Google Voice Inbox widget brings your most recent voicemails and text messages to your home screen," explains product manager Marcus Foster. "You can now quickly flip though messages in your Inbox with the widget, and selecting any message preview will open it in the Google Voice app."
     

    Google Voice Android Widget

     
    The Settings widget gives users four icons from which they can quickly access the full Google Voice app, quickly compose and send free texts, change dialing preferences on the fly, and select "Do Not Disturb", so calls go straight to voicemail. 

    The widget will also display the user’s credit balance. 

  • Wolfram Alpha Rolls Out Widget Builder

    Wolfram Alpha Rolls Out Widget Builder

    Wolfram Alpha told WebProNews today it has released beta versions of Wolfram Alpha Widgets and Widget Builder to allow users to create and share widgets on their blog or website.

    "Widgets are the next step in our goal of making Wolfram Alpha ubiquitous–available to everyone, everywhere," said Barak Berkowitz, Managing Director, Wolfram Alpha.

     

    WolframAlpha-Widgets

     

    "With widgets you get a brand new way to experience the power of Wolfram Alpha and share it with your readers and friends. By putting the massive data repository and computational capability of Wolfram Alpha in everyone’s hands, we fully expect to be surprised and impressed by the innovative ways people put this power to use in their areas of interest and expertise."

    Wolfram Alpha widget can be built in a few steps using the drag-and-drop Widget Builder.  Widgets can also be personalized, allowing users to customize the look and feel of the widget as well as the display of the results. Widgets can be created from any Wolfram Alpha query.
     

     

  • Google Acquires Widget Developer Labpixies

    Google has acquired widget developer Labpixies, which developed some of the first gadgets for Google’s personalized homepage iGoogle. It also develops apps for Android and iPhone.

    "Over the years, we worked closely together on a variety of projects, including the launch of a number of global OpenSocial based gadgets. Recently, we decided that we could do more if we were part of the same team…" says Don Loeb of Google’s iGoogle team.

    "We are looking forward to working with Labpixies to develop great web apps and leverage their knowledge and expertise to help developers and improve the ecosystem overall," he adds.

    Labpixies - Top iGoogle Gadgets - Company acquired by Google

    "We both felt the time was right to come together," says Labpixies in its announcement. "We started LabPixies to create a truly personalized online experience and develop fun widgets that people find useful every day. Working at Google will help us scale to more users as well as giving our team greater opportunities. Google and LabPixies teams have worked on many projects together including the launch of global OpenSocial based gadgets. The acquisition is an opportunity to learn from each other to bring more apps to users, help developers and improve the overall developer ecosystem."

    The Labpixies team will be based out of Google’s Tel Aviv office, and will anchor the company’s iGoogle efforts across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

    This is only the latest in a string of acquisitions from Google. Other recent acquisitions include Agnilux, Plink, Aardvark, and Episodic.

  • Google Launches Buzz Widget For Android

    Google has released a Google Buzz widget for Android phones aimed at making it easier for users to update their status and share content with others.

    The Google Buzz widget allows users to post text and photos with a single tap, directly from the Android home screen.

    The Google Mobile Blog provides more details. "Like other mobile access points for Google Buzz, the widget lets you choose to tag your post with the location or place from which it was posted."

    Buzz-Widget-Android

    "You can post buzz about a great meal you had and share photos of the new restaurant. To save time, your posts will upload in the background, letting you get back to your scrumptious dessert without a wait."

    The widget is currently available in English for Android phones running 1.6 and later. Google says it plans to add support for other languages soon.

    Search for Google Buzz in the Android Market to download the widget. Once installed, you can add it to your home screen: tap "Menu" while on the home screen and select "Add > Widgets > Google Buzz".