Snipperoo Universal Widget – A Review

Snipperoo is a very young service that bills itself as “the universal widget.”  Unlike most of the other widgets covered in this blog, the Snipperoo widget is not a means of extending an existing service out to the edge.  In this particular case, the widget is the business, and the business is the widget.

The easiest way to think about Snipperoo is as a widget control panel that doesn’t know any site boundaries.  It deigns to be a single point of contact by which the user can control all of their widgets, across all of their online presences.

For anyone who has used TypePad, the Snipperoo service is very similar to TypePad’s TypeLists service.  It’s a highly visual, user friendly interface that attempts to protect the user from having to wade through their site’s template and eyeball html in order to manage their widgets.

Because this is a very young service – they just went into closed beta yesterday – I’m going to try not to nitpick very much.  To the extent possible, I will stay focused on the high level opportunity and some potential success factors.

Applications & Opportunity

If you’re reading this blog, you would probably agree with me that widgets are going to play a big role in how web services are remixed together going forward.  Unlike API’s, you don’t have to be a developer to install a widget.  And each installed widget is an opportunity to put your own personal stamp on the places you frequent online.

From a company perspective, a well executed widget can best any marketing campaign in terms of reach and return on investment.  Snipperoo has bet the farm that consumers’ appetite for these widgets will continue to increase, in parallel with companies’ willingness to create them.

So does the Internet need a cross platform tool to make widget management easy?  It’s too early to tell, I think.  I remember vividly the first time I tried to install a widget on a Blogger blog.  I thought to myself that there had to be an easier way – that there’s no way that the “regular” user would be able to scroll through html and find the right insertion spot.

But then I got used to it.  And it was only after getting used to it that I started my first TypePad blog.  And to be perfectly honest, when I first started using TypePad, I felt that learning how to use TypeLists was a pain in the ass, and wondered why TypePad couldn’t just do it like everybody else.

Now that I actively maintain blogs on TypePad and Blogger and am accustomed to both systems, I can say with some authority that the TypePad system blows the Blogger system away in terms of ease of use.  But there was a definite adoption hurdle there.

So why to go into all of this here?  Because I think that Snipperoo is going to face many of the same issues that TypePad faced in introducing a proprietary widget management system, but without the control that TypePad had.  No matter how slick and user friendly their system is, it’s still going to be a new behavior for users.  It’s still going to have to win enough traction and mindshare to become a destination site.

The three challenges that I believe that Snipperoo has to meet in order to win in this space are; 1) To provide a better way to manage widgets than what exists currently on the big aggregators / platforms (and what will exist on the new generation of widget management systems); and 2) To become a critical part of the widget ecosystem, and as such, be the destination of choice for developers / companies looking to promote their widgets, and users looking to find widgets; 3) Achieve sufficient traction that they are able to provide a compelling “one click add” widget management tool (again, see Fred Wilson’s gold standard post)

Configuration

The concept of Snipperoo is pretty simple.  Your widget management system is made of widget containers, which they call “Panels,” and individual widgets, which they call “Modules.”  The pitch as it stands today is that once you add your Snipperoo Panel to your site(s), all ongoing widget management can be done from your Snipperoo account.

To go back to that Blogger example, if you were using Snipperoo to manage your widgets, you would only have to scroll through your blog’s template once to insert your Snipperoo Panel.  Once that was done, all future management can be done through the slick, friendly, ajaxy Snipperoo tool, and you wouldn’t ever have to worry again about finding the sidebar section of your Blogger template.

From what I could tell, your Snipperoo account lets you resize your widget container,  add new widgets, edit existing widgets, and delete widgets that you no longer want.  I did not see a tool to change the order that your widgets appear within in the panel, but I would imagine that is coming.

Even at its very early stage, all of this basic functionality works on Snipperoo.  I was able to set up my panel without a problem, and add both script and Flash-based widgets to my panel.

You install your widget panel on your blog just the way you would install any other widget.  On TypePad, for example, you would plug your Snipperoo panel directly into the TypeLists platform.  So even though they compete at a certain level, Snipperoo can co-exist with TypeLists.

The Snipperoo widget is a script, so for now, MySpace and other sites that forbid scripts are off limits.

Testing

I tested the Snipperoo Universal Widget on both TypePad and Blogger.  It was fun making one change via my Snipperoo control panel, and having both my TypePad and Blogger templates update dynamically.

As you can see in the sidebar, I added three different widgets with different formats to my Snipperoo panel.  I added the Streampad Flash player with a fixed width, the RateItAll script based beer widget with a floating width, and an image based Last.FM widget.  All three coexisted together within the Snipperoo panel. 

The only widget that I could not get to work is the YouTube widget – it may have been too wide for the format, or I may have had to extend the length of my panel.

As it stands today, there is very little branding or viral efforts evident on the Snipperoo widget.  I’m not going to judge them though yet, as they’ve only been live for about 18 hours.  You also can’t add an individual widget from somebody else’s Snipperoo panel to your own panel.

I also didn’t notice a way to create a second panel.  So those who don’t want to display the exact same widgets on all of their online presences are out of luck.  This would seem to be an easy tweak, however.

Editorial

I really had fun testing and thinking about Snipperoo’s Universal Widget.  It’s an ambitious project, with plenty to like.

But the competition is daunting.

Indeed, not only is Snipperoo competing with cross platform widget management systems like Widgetbox and TheSpringBox, but they are also competing with every homegrown widget system – whether it by the old fashioned “view template” option, or a slick, custom system like TypePad’s TypeLists.

I also wonder about how Snipperoo is going to get the word out – how they are going to make their widget management system part of the infrastructure of the Web.  Is a mildly superior user experience really going to be a compelling enough reason for users to adopt a new way to manage their widgets?  TypePad was able to ram TypeLists down our throats by virtue of their ownership of the platform – Snipperoo doesn’t have the same luxury.

It would seem to me that there is going to need to be a big Bizdev deal or two to jumpstart this company – Blogger springs to mind as the ideal partner, given their reach and lack of any homegrown widget management system.

But in my mind, the key to the whole thing is how effective Snipperoo can be in making Internet-wide, one click widget adds a reality.  You’re browsing your favorite social networking site.  You see a widget you like.  You click a button on the widget and the widget is immediately added to your Snipperoo control panel, which updates your online presences around the Web.

Now that is a powerful vision. 

Comments

[Jay Gooby]

Hi Lawrence,

Thanks for the post and the thoughtful points you've raised - we're at a conference today promoting our launch (Ad:Tech London in case anyone's here) - so I'll just post a quick hint re: the module ordering; you just drag and drop the module boxes in the middle column to re-order the widgets in a panel - you'll see the live preview update when you do :)

[lawrence]

Thanks Jay, very nice.

[Rich]

Very interesting read thanks for the useful review. I found some more info on the topic http://ddlfrog.com

[Generic Viagra]

Hello
hey nice blog about Snipperoo Universal Widget. i really enjoyed it really nice post too.

[Xavier]

Do you want to know how to make your pdf search easier? If you do, I know one good source http://www.pdfqueen.com . It is Pdf SE.

[generic viagra]

amazing post about Snipperoo Universal Widget – A Review thanks for sharing!!!

[aion kinah]

Event experience described nicely with interesting details and information.

[generic viagra]

If someone else does, then after death if betrayed I'll forgive, but do not betray, trust me, if it turns out, exhausted, I was powerless, too, I'll help, because she will always help, life can become useless, if not with me is my weapon.

[buy generic viagra]

This means that you have to keep up your subscirption for ever - even if you end up with only a single live widget. There's another problem with this structure. Maybe 15 widgets (Individual) or 35 widgets (Designer) is a useful amount to start with. But what happens after the first year or two, when you are up to your limit? What happens when you have 60 live widgets out in the wild - there are no levels after 60 (except for a nebulous Agency structure). Do you have to start culling some widgets? Tell some clients that their widgets are going black?

[constipation causes]

Yahoo's Connected TV platform is now available on selected Samsung televisions, with sets to come later this year from Sony (SNE), LG, and Vizio, too. The overarching strategy seems to borrow heavily from Apple (AAPL), whose success with its iPhone App Store has rewritten the rule book for content and service providers in the phone industry. That's not the only similarity in the approach: The interface design of the Connected platform has been spearheaded by a former Apple interaction designer, Arlo Rose.

[generic viagra]

Setting up shop in a small storefront space, replete with credit card logos on the door, this venture includes an assortment of donations from friends and fellow artists -- and its all for free. Robles talked about the idea and about getting the original collection together and how the entire project had taken on an even greater meaning being near the center of commerce in this most economically challenging time.

[sildenafil citrate]

Einer Elhauge is guest-blogging over at Volokh, and raising a bunch of interesting questions. One post draws a parallel between ELS and sabermetrics, leading one (clearly Boston-based) wag to ask, "if empirical legal studies are like sabermetrics, who is the legal equivalent of Joe Morgan?"

I'm not touching that one... But, in the spirit of the (baseball) season, I'd offer the following instead. Empirical researchers are taught early on to beware of selection bias -- drawing incorrect inferences from data which are nonrandomly sampled from a population. (An example would be concluding that early humans lived predominantly in caves, on the basis of finding paintings, remains of fire pits, and so forth there; because such artifacts are more likely to survive in caves than elsewhere, the available archaeological data are subject to selection bias). We also learn that there are ways of dealing with such data, including the class of "selection models" first developed by James Heckman.*

[hairy pussy]

Even at its very early stage, all of this basic functionality works on Snipperoo. I was able to set up my panel without a problem, and add both script and Flash-based widgets to my panel.

[black porn]

because such artifacts are more likely to survive in caves than elsewhere, the available archaeological data are subject to selection bias). We also learn that there are ways of

[jessica simpson naked]

in caves, on the basis of finding paintings, remains of fire pits, and so forth there; because such artifacts are more likely to survive in caves than elsewhere, the available

[last longer]

amazing post about Snipperoo Universal Widget – A Review thanks for sharing!!!

[viagra online]

Not only is there a cromulent looking bistro with frisee and lardons etc etc, but sushi that looks like it might not kill you.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

[buy viagra]

Even at its very early stage, all of this basic functionality works on Snipperoo. I was able to set up my panel without a problem, and add both script and Flash-based widgets to my panel.

[colospa]

Even at its very early stage, all of this basic functionality works on Snipperoo. I was able to set up my panel without a problem, and add both script and Flash-based widgets to my panel.

[combivir]

Even at its very early stage, all of this basic functionality works on Snipperoo. I was able to set up my panel without a problem, and add both script and Flash-based widgets to my panel.

[cozaar]

Even at its very early stage, all of this basic functionality works on Snipperoo. I was able to set up my panel without a problem, and add both script and Flash-based widgets to my panel.

[ghd straighteners]

Tomorrow is another day , should have new features.

[Coach Bags Outlet]

the widget is the business, and the business is the widget.

[Tory Burch outlet Online]

So fun article is! I agree the idea!

[recruiters]

Thanks very much for sharing such an interesting information. Keep posting....