TechCruch has profiled Taigate, a London-based company developing e-commerce functional banner ads (link here).

Tailgate link here.

This is an intriguing concept. Imagine if the banners offered really compelling e-commerce offerings – not simply in terms of serving product offerings that can target segmented users, but also through innovative, engaging ecommerce methods such as a reverse auction, or a countdown clock with a deal so good, it’s only available for 45 seconds, and then a different product selection is served, and the countdown starts again.

In addition, think of the implications of this idea in the emerging Widget economies - if widgets develop fully functional ecommerce solutions, which offer one click shopping, without leaving the host platform, that could be incredibly powerful.