Digg Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced an agreement in which the two companies will collaborate to bring relevant advertising to the more than 17 million unique monthly visitors to Digg, a Web site that harnesses the collective wisdom of its online audience to prioritize the overwhelming amount of content available on the Web.
As part of the relationship, Microsoft will be the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising on Digg. The two companies also agreed to work together on future technology and advertising initiatives.
“Our collaboration with Digg is about bringing our advertising technology and sales force to one of the fastest-growing sites on the Web and a true innovator in user-generated content,” said Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft, in the press release. “We believe advertisers will welcome Microsoft and Digg’s combined strengths to forge more meaningful connections online.”
Microsoft and Federated Media Publishing, Digg’s current advertising partner, plan to collaborate to bring integrated programs to Digg’s users and advertisers. “Federated Media has unique advertising sales assets that dovetail with our efforts, and we look forward to working with them,” Berkowitz said.
“We’re now positioned to provide a world-class advertising solution that builds upon Digg’s philosophy of providing a great experience for users and advertisers,” said Jay Adelson, CEO of Digg, in the press release. “As the Digg audience continues to grow and diversify, we believe that this initiative with Microsoft, and the resources that it provides, will enable us to focus less on developing an advertising infrastructure and more on developing new and innovative features for the site.”
“We are thrilled to work with these two world-class companies,” said John Battelle, founder and CEO of Federated Media, in the press release. “Digg is truly a remarkable brand.”
The companies expect to begin execution of the agreement in the coming weeks.
Cool, now Microsoft is going to pay for my digg-ing!
Then I will be very careful not to click on ads when I’m visiting digg.com
The funny thing is, if you go to Digg, they have posted the story (carefully omitting the word Microsoft in the title), and then *gamed* the list.
Every comment that is pro Digg or pro MS is scoring +20 – +150 digs. Every negative comment has been dug down so far they hardly show up.
Even though everyone is going on about how this “won’t affect impartiality” it clearly already has. Digg itself is spinning its own news item! How low can these guys go?
You guys are unbelievable. Microsoft becomes the ad supplier for a website and all of a sudden it’s not worth visiting? Who cares?! I’d bet you loonies would stop visiting MDN if Microsoft became the ad supplier for this site. Crazy…
That sucks, If you’re are a PC user it will really sucks because Digg will become the #1 delivery site for Microsoft’s acquired spyware Avenue A.(which it’s own spyware product MS Defender no longer blocks).
Too bad, a great site and they shot themselves in the head.
We Mac users made Digg popular so, I guess it time for us to find the next site to make big.
Bye bye Digg…
It was nice knowing you.
not digging Digg, bye bye.
anyone revisit that kevin rose iphone BS he spewed prior to it’s launch?
What an ASS
Stop visiting MDN? Perish the thought!
bye bye digg
aloha!
Kevin Rose can now make out like a bandit with some of Uncle Bill’s money to start his new venture/s – or hang out on a beach in the carribean somewhere, whichever he chooses – while his Digg dream-child dies on a vine.
Petra, that applies to lots of things:
“We Mac users made (Microsoft, AOL, USB, Bungie, etc.) popular so, I guess it time . . .”
MS is full of shit. Apparently Digg like to eat….
so if you all are ditching, then where will you go for digg replacement? Netscape? Newsvine? Reddit or what?
I can’t decide where to go cuz I have request account removal and going to ditch Digg for good.
MDN Magic Word: nation
Hahahaha… who gives a sh*t what you MDN asslickers think? Digg is a phenomenally successful web startup company that has been around for a way shorter time than MDN has and yet generates the kind of traffic (and advertising revenue) that MDN will never, ever achieve. This deal with MS will no doubt be a lucrative venture for Digg and I look forward to watching their company grow and prosper even further.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/digg.com+macdailynews.com?metric=uv
So all of you claiming that you’ll stop visiting Digg, I really hope you’ll stick to your word, because Digg doesn’t want, or need, dumbsh*ts like you polluting its site with your garbage opinions anyway.
KingMel wrote:
“The only thing worse than web-based advertising is web-based advertising site with M$ involvement.”
You dislike web-based advertising, and yet you are posting this opinion on a site that features 10 times more banner and text ads (even ads posing as news stories) than Digg does. MDN are such worthless whores for ad dollars that they even used to feature ContentLink ads to Microsoft Products before they got called out on it.
Jeremy wrote:
“Every comment that is pro Digg or pro MS is scoring +20 – +150 digs. Every negative comment has been dug down so far they hardly show up.”
And I supposed you have proof of this, hmm? Anytime you want to come up with some evidence of your accusations, please feel free. We’ll be waiting.
Amusing, I was only watching diggnation today and thinking how ignorant Alex and Kevin can sometimes be
I wonder if Digg Inc knows how to squeal like a pig
Talk about a really big yawn of a story…
@ Fanboy Massacre
Speaking of dumbsh*ts polluting sites with garbage opinions…
Have to admit, I’ve never bothered with Digg- what is it? And now, I have even less than no reason to go there.
Any recommendations on non-M$ supported DIGG-like sites? If not I am going back to Slashdot.
Digg is so yesterday. Reddit is the future.
Hope they don’t get burned after shaking hands with the devil. Except for Alex, he can fry.
Close cooperation will enable Microsoft to <strike>manipulate</strike> promote its, er… advertising agenda through the Digg process.