10 Ways Digg Could Stay Profitable and Independent

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10 Ways Digg Could Stay Profitable and Independent

Posted by nakedpug 1165 days ago, popular 1164 days ago (http://www.businesspundit.com)
Category: Tech

Increased advertising will sustain, but not drive, Digg. The company can increase its user base through acquisitions and cross its fingers with ads, but without a bigger vision, Digg won’t stick around...

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tamar 1164 days ago

As an FYI, you linked to the entire blog, not the individual blog post.

Honestly, Digg lost favor in my eyes when I was banned in October. I was a pretty heavy user -- spending "business days" of hours online (in '07, thankfully not in '08). You'd think they care. They don't.

If they invested more in their users, they'd be more profitable. In the end, they care about money.

I also honestly think it'd be in the best interest of all those banned to approach the VC firms that Digg is probably looking for funding from to say that Digg doesn't deserve it. Hey, it can't hurt.

bizpundit 1164 days ago

Admins, if you see this you should fix the link to point the appropriate article:

http://www.businesspundit.com/10-ways-digg-could-stay-profitable-and-independent/

tamar 1164 days ago

Actually, I was the one who made the observation. I'm also a moderator around these parts. Consider the post URL changed.

Just thought you should know for the future to submit the proper URL ;)

bizpundit 1164 days ago

Hi Tamar. Funny thing but this was a totally organic submission. I'm behind the site, but did not request for it to get submitted.

Isn't that cool that Tip'd is now getting organic submissions?

scotsworth788 1164 days ago

Digg totally screwed themselves over when they had the whole drama with the DVD Hack Code. While still very profitable, it will never reach the value it could have had it not allowed the users to win that battle so handily...no one wants to buy a site that could possibly be sued at any moment.

tamar 1164 days ago

Absolutely. That's what we're aiming for. ;)

@scotsworth, I'd say that Digg jumped the shark a little later than that, and mostly because of how it mistreats its users. The DVD hack didn't prove anything -- did Digg end up getting sued? It proved to the legal forces behind such measures that they can't mess with the power of the people.

You might want to read the first 3-4 pages of the Groundswell book by Charlene Li. Definitely, if anything is obvious, it's that Digg *won* from that incident. They certainly didn't lose.

ultrageek 1164 days ago

Digg slapped a lot of regular users in the face. And I guess when you have a lot of rabid users who get pissed off than any site other than what they like gets submitted, then you have a problem. Digg, wake up. Before you can monetize, decide if your core users are the 15 year old trust fund kids who have no social graces, or the people getting attacked. (Hmm. Put that way, I'm not sure either.) Anyway, good luck making money.

sunnyspeaks 1163 days ago

I'd say Digg has become smarter than ever, even if it has disappointed many of its regular users. They will still survive and make money. Perhaps Tip'd can give Digg a run for its money. Who knows.....

paulronan 1163 days ago

I think Tip'd can give Digg a run for its money - I know that I enjoy using Tip'd more than I did Digg (before I was banned). Honestly, I can't see Digg turning a profit.

patsfan 1163 days ago

I've been in online advertising for many years. The problem with Digg, Facebook, and other social media sites is that their users won't transact or interact with display. When you see a .0001% CTR on your display you find alternate channels quickly

Snouty 1163 days ago

@patsfan, agreed. the way for digg and some of these other sites to make money is probably to aggregate, mine and resell information. they must be building up interesting profiles of what people are into. (not as individuals, as types, I mean).

Facebook I think has other options, IMHO. Some sort of opt-in monetisation.

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