Gadgets for a cause

Posted by Samantha Crow, Product Marketing Manager, iGoogle

With Americans spending the same amount of time online as they do watching television (so says this Pew/Internet study), organizations and campaigns have the opportunity to build awareness of election issues broadly through Google tools that make it easy for users to access information.

Gadgets -- which are basically interactive and dynamic mini-billboards -- are one of the fastest growing applications at Google. They're the foundation for iGoogle, the personalized version of the Google homepage that has tens of millions of users. They can also be included on most any page on the web with some simple copy-and-paste. Our top gadget developers include a database specialist from the University of Southern Maine, a stay-at-home mom from Utah, and a computer science major from Puerto Rico.

Now any campaign or organization with a live website can use the Gadget Builder for organizations to quickly create a gadget. You can drive traffic from your gadget on iGoogle to your website and help your organization be seen and heard on this new platform. Your gadget could feature news from your organization, blog updates, a YouTube video channel, polls, trends, speeches, and more. You can submit your gadget to the iGoogle directory and drive additional usage of your gadget from your website.

By making content accessible on iGoogle, organizations can engage supporters, reach undecided voters, and provide information to the uninformed. All you need to get started is access to a publicly available server where you can host your gadget files. If you already have a gadget, make sure it's in the appropriate category, for instance Politics or News. If you don't have a gadget yet, it only takes a few minutes to get started.

For more details on gadget creation, visit the Google Gadget Center.