Wishlisting Blog

Articles like this one seem to be cropping up more frequently lately.

MySpace now aggressively cracks down on its eco-system — often blocking third-party widgets without warning or explanation — and it’s become a huge risk for any web-based startup to rely too heavily on traffic generated from the social networking site…

Although we won’t be able to offer a MySpace widget at launch, and certainly “widgets” can be used in more ways than just inclusion on MySpace profiles, this is something we keep an eye on. It impacts the priority of the feature, as well as the most appropriate technology to use. If you are targeting a widget for MySpace, you’re probably going to use Flash, because it’s well known that Flash is allowed on MySpace, whereas things that require JavaScript are blocked. However, if MySpace is not an option, and you’re targeting bloggers or desktops (like the Google Desktop or a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget) then Flash probably isn’t the best choice.