NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JupiterResearch,-- JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, has found that companies wanting to get their widgets into the hands of consumers build must viral and social channels into the distribution plans.

Outlined in a new report, "Widgets: Delivering Applications Users Want," online users are more likely to get widgets from friends than from the companies that created them. In fact, online users between the ages of 18-24 are six times more likely to obtain widgets from friends than from a company.

The most popular widgets are those that enable the user to play video, music, or view photo slide shows, although widgets offering news, weather, or other information are also utilized and most commonly distributed through social networking sites.