… at least that is the idea! Like many social networking sites, Digg is concerned about adverts pushing some of its users away, so they have come up with a great solution: users rate the ads, reducing the price of advertising that users don’t mind seeing (for more information see this article on Venturebeat). It’s an interesting idea, and may be key to keeping traffic levels up when the cost to a user of switching to another service is minimal. Although it is always good to see innovation in the world of advertising, it also suggests to me that Digg recognises the potential fragility of its business if a better alternative became available.
I’d be surprised to see such an approach in our industry, as websites pull in users because of high-quality, unique content. If, however, editorial teams continue to get squeezed, and sites increasingly populate their content with cut-and-paste press releases, then who knows?
