Google has just started new pilot program for distributing grants and seed investments to gadget developers and gadget-related businesses.
From the official Google blog:
The program will provide two kinds of funding. First, we'll invite promising gadget developers (individuals or businesses) to apply for $5,000 grants to fund further development. These are not loans or equity investments; they're simply grants for gadgets that already have a thriving user base and we think have potential for even more improvement. To be considered for a grant, your gadget needs to have more than 250,000 pageviews per week, and you need to provide a one-page proposal on how you'd like to improve your gadget. This is a no-strings-attached grant; we won't ask for repayment of any kind. We simply ask that you work on your project in good faith. Secondly, the program will make $100,000 seed investments in companies that either start as a Google Gadget or have a large Google Gadget component. In order to be eligible for a seed investment, you must have received a $5,000 grant, and you must propose a plan for making your gadget financially sustainable. http://google-code-updates.blogspot....-ventures.html
You can also read more about it in the Google Gadget Ventures FAQ
http://www.google.com/gadgetventures/faq.html
I just discovered that my
Spyber.com Google Gadget has 227,500 weekly views, so I guess I'll have to "beef it up" some more to get that extra 25k views/week now..
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?s...ybergadget.xml
Example:
Spyber Google Gadget
I've already got some more plans for it like adding a Google map to the gadget, showing the city on it, a couple of AJAX features for the User Agent string (like displaying your browser and operation system) etc. so I'll probably have to speed up that process now..
