Ever since the last Digg town hall meeting where Kevin and Jay Adelson skirted around the “Is Digg for Sale” question, I knew there had to be more to the story. The silence spoke for itself. There was no admission or denial of the rumor.
I had no idea though that Google and Microsoft both were sniffing around Digg. It does make in a sense that both industry giants would be interested in Digg, after all Digg is one of the most visited websites on the Internet.
The visitor traffic alone is probably enough to give Microsoft and Google executives raging woody's.
Rumors and speculation have been floating around for several months that Digg was looking for a buyer.
If nothing else, Digg would make a good acquisition target for Microsoft in case the Yahoo deal fell through. Of course Microsoft isn’t going to sit on its hands if it knows Google has eyes for Digg. I think it is a tit-for-tat thing between Google and Microsoft ever since Google began to undermine Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo.
I think that if either of the companies does buy Digg that much of the shadiness going on behind the scenes at Digg (insta-digg, insta-bury antics, behind the scenes censorship) will disappear. I also believe that if Digg is purchased additional social features will appear on the site in an effort to dominate social networking and social news niches.
"Rumor out last night is that Digg is looking at offers from Microsoft and Google in the $200-225 million range. Frankly it's simple — if either company acquires Digg, the mass exodus will begin swiftly." - CenterNetworks
Do you think Digg is worth $200 million?
Related
Yahoo buzz launch, Digg town hall meeting, Friendfeed launches publicly. (fvrit.com)
Digg to address censorship – sure they will (fvrit.com)
A couple of problems on Digg (fvrit.com)
Google, Microsoft Said To Be Preparing Bids For Digg (TechCrunch)
Update 3/8/2008 - The Digg folks are now claiming the rumor isn't true. Of course, they are attempting to deny a possible acquisition. Rumors like this are bad for business and traffic. Bet in the next 3-6 month's they announce a sale. You can quote me on that. Kevin Rose and company have publically admitted that really don't want to run Digg (in so many words), their problem is they want more for Digg than anyone is willing to pay for it. - Allen