With all the fuss about the Yahoo-Google advertising deal and the world economic crisis it seems that one of the more engaging stories, Google Gadget adverts, has gone just about completely unobserved.

Google Gadget ads [widget ads] are a new hybrid ad format employing JavaScript, XML ( i.e. AJAX ) and Flash video to add Web 2.0 style interactivity to their adverts. They are distributed over their existing Video adverts channels already available to AdWords and AdSense buyers. The same adverts can also be uploaded as gadgetry to iGoogle homepages with minimal modification.

While gadgetry so far have had a tendency to be reasonably easy reporting on things like the weather or news, truly the sky is the limit and everything from games to complete applications – which Google calls’mini-websites’ – is possible . If your familiar with the range of plugins for Facebook then you likely have the right idea. While access to Gadget adverts is at present restricted to some large spenders, thanks to the complexity of the adverts creation, they clearly hope to dilate participation in due course and so this is one to watch given that Google already controls a sizeable bit of internet advertising money. Also, Google has lately started running post-view advertising on some of their more well-liked videos, as the site’s money is really low considering its incredible number of page perspectives.

Just as flat’brochure ware’ websites were once standard, but now web 2.0 complete with Flash and AJAX enabled interaction is all the rage, I think that in future years’flat video’ could become passe as basic revising and hyperlinking tool are inserted into phone-cams and interactive video will be the order of the day.

Don’t get me wrong, text adverts will be their bread and butter for some time yet, not least due to their speed and simplicity , however , between youtube and their AdSense network and AdWords ad management platform, not to mention Google’s new ad planner, Google are well placed to lead the new video generation and, importantly, the race to monetise it too.