• by Tameka Kee , September 19, 2008

WidgetBucks has expanded beyond shopping widgets, adding travel and local ads to its roster. The Seattle-based widget ad network partnered with Marchex and Kayak to populate the units, which currently run on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis.

The local widgets feature geographically targeted ads and content. A user from Salt Lake City, for example, might see the latest weather conditions and prices from the closest, cheapest gas station (powered by GasBuddy) alongside offers from local businesses. The ads drive consumers to Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) listings seeded by Marchex (through its affiliations with AT&T's Yellowpages.com and Idearc Media's Superpages, among others).

The travel ads offer users deals on flights, hotels and whole vacations, as well as themed excursions like skiing or snowboarding trips. Consumers get real-time pricing info, and can even shuffle between packages. WidgetBucks pulls data from Kayak to populate the widgets, although the units feature deals from many of the major online travel exchanges (including Orbitz and Travelocity).

WidgetBucks Chief Revenue Officer Kirby Winfield said the company plans to roll out cost-per-thousand (CPM) pricing on the new units in the future, keeping in line with the hybrid impression- and click-based model it offers with its shopping widgets. The CPM buys would be aimed at luring in more brand advertisers, which Winfield said are increasingly reluctant to have their ads run on certain networks and smaller sites.

"With most ad networks right now, it's tough to tell a brand advertiser that visitors to a given site are actually showing intent--particularly if you're on a social media site or a really niche blog," Winfield said. "It's like, 'trust us, they're in the travel category so there's intent.' But there's really no way to prove that. With these widgets, consumers are interacting with them--either scanning to find a restaurant or searching for a low-priced flight, so the intent is clear."