In the race to be the widget advertising network, RockYou just took one giant leap forward.

One of the leading widgets on social networks, RockYou, just announced that it raised a $35 million in Series C funding from DCM. I haven't seen any valuation amount, which leads me to believe that the hot property probably didn't get the half-a-billion that Slide - its main competitor, Glam, and Ning received earlier this year.  Nonetheless, it's a significant chunk of change. 

Now RockYou - which provides photo slideshows and voicemail accessories to over 35 million users -- hasn't said exactly what it plans to do with that cash. It's obvious, however, that if you're a platform with a lot of engaged users serving over 180 million widget views per day then the next step is to monetize them as an advertising network. 

Matt Marshall at VentureBeat has a great story on RockYou's earlier financing.