It has been reported that Digg.com, an all-encompassing informational website, was purchased by Betaworks, which is a tech firm in New York. For a measly $500,000, Digg is now officially a branch of the self-proclaimed “new medium company.”
For those who are not familiar with Digg, it is a site that allowed its users to submit links and then make an up-vote or down-vote for submissions.
When the site was first introduced in 2004, it quickly amassed followers, and rapidly became one of the most visited sites online. But just like Myspace, Friendster, Digg’s reign didn’t last that long. When the site was re-designed in 2010, many did not the like the site’s new look – in fact, the change caused a litany of complaints and frustrations amongst its users.
And because people felt that Digg wasn’t the site it once was, the site’s popularity began its steady decline.
It is surely a somewhat surprising sell, as Digg was at a time one of the more popular and highly-rated websites, especially in a monetary persuasion.
With the massive decline of Digg’s popularity over the past years, the sale was inevitable. However, the amount it was bought for came as a big surprise for many. In 2008, Google offered to purchase Digg for $200,000,000, but the internet search giant was turned down.
Of course, there is a good reason why Digg turned down the two-hundred-million dollar offer – around 2008, Digg ruled the internet. That is, until their visitors dropped significantly in the past years, and a lot of its users switched to Reddit – “the new kid in the block.”
For just $500,000, Betaworks was able to acquire Digg’s technology, brand and website. The sale of the once-prominent social website is indeed a colossal loss for the their former capital backers, who shelled out roughly around $45,000,000 to fund its seven-year run.
The gradual demise of the Digg was no secret. Since 2010, Digg has been losing significant traffic. And within four years, it managed to lose ninety-nine percent of its worth. The site was once valued at $164,000,000.
The reason why Digg agreed to be bought out for a mere 500k is still unclear, but perhaps this is the best offer they could get. Before the sale, Digg tried its best to stay afloat amidst the tightening competition online. However, even though the site decided to redesign itself in 2010, aesthetics were not enough to keep it going.
