Widgets will be hot in online marketing in 2007.

Why do I keep insisting that?

The metrics are right, the market is in demand, the new OS systems rolling out (Vista, Mac’s new OS X, and even Linux distro’s like my beloved Ubuntu) are encouraging widget use, and consumer adoption has begun now that the early adopter market has been saturated.

Watch for CPA networks and affiliate networks to increasingly make use of widgets over the next six months with the ability to share new offers, reporting, coupon codes, payout increases/decreases made available on the publisher’s desktop.

It will be an exciting time.

Here are two good sites I recommend checking out to help you contemplate the widget:

• Widgetbox: Like a Feedburner for widgets - find new widgets, monitor the distro of your own widgets, customize old widgets, etc
• Snipperoo gives a wrap up of the Widget Year in Review for 2006 with a month-by-month account of the development of the new platform and its increasing adoption in the online world.

During the Holiday downtime, play with a few of the widgets and give some thought as to how they can improve your program whether you’re a marketer, merchant, network or a publisher.