Interoperability between different social networks should not only empower users but also boost widget makers who can aggregate their audiences and increase revenues.
Mytopia, launching today as a “social gaming community”, is a case in point.
It allows users to come onto its network and play games with one another whether they are within Facebook, MySpace or Bebo. Users of Apple Dashboard Widgets, iGoogle Gadgets, Microsoft Vista Toolbar Widgets and Yahoo Widgets can also join in.
Casual games are the focus, with Sudoku, Chess, Backgammon, Bridge, Dominoes, Bingo, Texas Hold’em and Blackjack initially available.
“The idea was to create a digital playground that would appeal to the largest demographic – the very fragmented Web 2.0 world out there,” says Guy Ben-Artzi, chief executive of the Israeli company, which is rebasing itself in Silicon Valley.
He says the company has tinkered with Google’s Open Social and Facebook’s APIs to enable its network and it did a lot of work on the infrastructure so that everything could be managed from a central location. The grouping of the games in a sophisticated interface with chat features and an online shop represents a next step in the maturity of the widget industry, he says.
Mytopia will use social networking profiles to help target ads, although Mr Ben-Artzi says this is restricted to age, gender and location – such as a 35-year-old man in London receiving relevant ads. Users around a poker table are likely to see a different advertiser’s logo emblazoned on the green baize depending on their demographic, or they can pay $5 a month and the ads will disappear completely.
