RockYou raises $35 million to be widget ad network

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.