Widget Metrix

comScore is introducing its Widget measurement service today called Widget Metrix. The WSJ has the story and this chart.

I got a preview of the data last week and I had two comments for comScore which I’ll share with all of you.

First, I am shocked that the YouTube flash player is not on the top ten list. I hope they look into that because it just doesn’t make sense to me that Brightcove has more reach than YouTube. But if that’s accurate, then it’s big news.

Second, it will be interesting to see how Facebook apps will affect these numbers which are from April, before Facebook apps launched. iLike has over 3mm installations of its Facebook app already. How many UVs is that getting them across the web? Maybe we’ll know the answer to that when the June Widget Metrix data comes out.

The comScore press release on Widget Metrix is not up on their website as I write this (it’s 6:30am EST), but it will be there this morning. Fortunately I have a preview of that too. Here is the definition of widgets that comScore is currently using:

The current universe of widgets is defined as embedded flash (.swf) objects. The comScore Widget Metrix service will evolve in its tracking of widget file types as the market dynamics and content delivery systems change.  The report currently focuses on the individual widgets, and not the platforms that deliver them.  Desktop widgets are also not included.

Here are a couple quotes from the release including one from Max Levchin who comes out as the big winner in the segment right now.

“We are excited to see comScore’s report, which validates the enormous reach of the widget economy,” said Max Levchin, founder and CEO of Slide. “This report will help to demonstrate the importance of widgets to advertisers and publishers.”

“Third-party audience measurement is critical to the emerging widget economy,” said Hooman Radfar, founder of widget delivery platform Clearspring.  “Measuring and understanding the widget universe is an important first step in enabling publishers and advertisers to fully realize the benefits of the burgeoning distributed Web. As one of the leading widget platforms, we look forward to working with comScore to help drive widget measurement going forward.”

I’ve been writing about widgets (including this post begging for Widget Metrix) and filling my blog sidebars with them for two years. I believe they are changing the basic architecture of the web (as Marc Andreessen explains in yet another great post). And these numbers certainly prove that out. 117mm uniques for Slide in April. That’s a huge number and I hope people finally realize the extent of what’s going on.