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Digg in talks with News Corp about possible acquisition

techcrunch.com — San Francisco-based startup Digg has been in recent acquisition discussions with a number of companies, including News Corp., according to multiple sources close to the negotiations. However, the company was unable to land an offer in the price range they’re looking for - at least $150 million - and will likely close a Series B round of financing i

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 25, 2006

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  • beachchalet, on 10/12/2007, -15/+165man...not surprised...but News Corp...damn...soon we'll have a MySpace interface...shoot..

    Kevin, Jay, say it aint so.....Yahoo..Google...even Netscape (ha ha), but Rupert?!?! Go for the jugular on the old man...$300M+

    Anyway...good luck all around..you guys deserve it...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+126Err, at least sell out to Google and leave with class.
  • pipdip, on 10/12/2007, -6/+113Mixed feelings. Digg is a great site and I can understand why they'd want it. But I like the nice little underground, dark tipper feeling of Digg. Obviously, that has changed a little over the past year but once Digg is owned by a huge multi-billion dollar company, it just won't be the same. Plus, if someone spends $175 million or whatever if ends up being, they are going to want to get a return on that money quite quickly.

    Also, more importantly, News Corp., in control of Digg? I get the feeling censorship will start. I mean, just watch the Fox News Channel. Also, I doubt they'd want "How to Hack (blah)" on the front page.
  • e2superman, on 10/12/2007, -10/+109Well, back to Slashdot...
  • lib24, on 10/12/2007, -9/+98I'll buy it for $150.00 bucks. Will Kevin take pay-pal?
  • guregu, on 10/12/2007, -9/+85This is a conservative digger's wet dream.
  • Alphabet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+67lmao, news corp? fox? lame...
  • Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+66This ***** cracks me up. You guys yelling "sell out" wouldn't ***** sell your website for a million bucks much less 150 million? Please.

    You love your jobs? You pour your heart and soul into it? Would you walk away from your job right now if someone offered you a million bucks to do that? Hell I'm willing to bet most of you would walk away from your jobs for 10 grand and a case of Old Milwaukee.....
  • pipdip, on 10/12/2007, -0/+50I forgot to add something concerning the cost of Digg. Digg is built around links. You check the main page, see a link you link and visit it. Unlike Facebook, MySpace, etc. where you click from profile to profile seeing new ads each time you visit a profile. The page views simply aren't as high. Plus if News Corp. is really smart, they know that Diggers aren't generally ad clickers, unlike MySpace where 14 year old girls can't help but click the "Catch the Money and win a Playstation 3" ads.
  • michaelb1, on 10/12/2007, -5/+55If Fox buys Digg headlines will read like this.

    "Courageous President Bush leads Americas efforts to kill terrorists."

    "How evil is Hillary Clinton"

    "Barack Obama is gay!"
  • bart5986, on 10/12/2007, -6/+55I think google is the only company that wouldn't try and screw digg up.
  • maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -6/+52ugh anyone but murdoch and his republican empire
  • morgrar, on 10/12/2007, -7/+48Yeah, I guess so. Too bad every article will be days old.
  • michaelb1, on 10/12/2007, -4/+46If K Rose sells out to News Corp I will never use digg again.

    anybody but NewsCorp! This can;t be serious.
  • MrSpontaneous, on 10/12/2007, -6/+48This has to be a rumor - Kevin is smarter than this (I hope).

    I don't know about other diggers, but I'd definitely delete my digg account and take my viewership elsewhere if such an acquisition took place.
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+41When/If digg sells out we're all just going to find a new site to use.
  • mikee7, on 10/12/2007, -7/+45Expect censorship from News Corp. If you seen the documentry The Corporation you'll know what I mean.
  • RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -5/+35I wouldn't be surprised if Murdoch bought Digg. But not for $150 million. To put that figure into perspective, he acquired Myspace for $500 million. Myspace has over 100 million users. Digg has between .5 - 1 million. Do the math.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+30But there are millions of views a month. Which equals big advertising bucks. Some reports suggest that revenue could be as much as $800k/month.
  • amoirae, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33Selling out to the biggest whores on Earth?

    Let this just be a perverse rumor.
  • Chaos12, on 10/12/2007, -5/+34Keep digg real please.
  • ConfusedONE, on 10/12/2007, -6/+33Please no NewsCorp, they will take away all the freedom we have to self moderate. Even if we tend to have a liberal bias towards our stories and enjoy bashing Bush and his Fox News cronies.

    I know Digg may be worth a lot, but it will lose almost all its value if it goes to them.
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30We might even get a better dupe search feature. BTW Owen (site designer) Dugg this, does it meany it's true?
  • WiseWeasel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27I'm sure if NewsCorp does buy it, someone would make a digg clone, and we could all move over to that... Why limit ourselves to just /.?
  • Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27This will be like TechTV being taken over by G4. It turned into complete crap.
  • ajb2015, on 10/12/2007, -8/+33I second that, I don't care if Kevin Rose sticks around with his podcast. ***** this *****. Didn't he learn enough from Comcast? I've been using digg since beta, but if the same company that owns FOX News buys digg, I will leave.
  • PathDaemon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27I want to see diggnation hosted by old execs, talking about the same topics as K and A now. It would be so funny.
  • flag564, on 10/12/2007, -13/+38Sell out?

    This isnt some hobby. It cost money to run Digg.

    And last time I read about it, they were not making money off this site, just enough to keep the lights on. if News corp can shove in some cash, while letting Rose and Co. keep creative control, then why now do it?

  • ZombieNixon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25'Mr. Murdoch it appears our Digg valuation was way off, apparently there is this program called Ad-Block...'
  • PathDaemon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24May the best digg clone win.
  • NeilM, on 10/12/2007, -6/+29If digg gets bought--I leave.
  • toobueller, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26Selling out to News corp would just be selling out....
    I'm with supernova17, if you're going to sell out, sell out to the least evil, not the most evil.
  • chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27Smart is selling a website for $150 million. Not smart is refusing if such an offer was made because a bunch of teens on said website don't like the company buying you.
  • christiancadeo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23god, if news buys digg then I am outa here and going to Reddit or back to /slash.
  • analdisco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20No kidding. Myspace pages have been censored for containing "alternative" viewpoints, and there has already been talk of front-page articles being cherry picked by editors.

    Is anyone here naive enough to think News Corp would give a ***** about the principles behind digg?

    They'll keep it fair and balanced, that's for sure.
  • jono181, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Let's be honest. If they were planning on selling it, right NOW would be the time to unload this puppy for all that it's worth. Cha-ching!
  • AhrenBa, on 10/12/2007, -24/+41NOOOOO!!! Don't sell out!
  • roadtrippy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Is it even possible to delete your account? I remember trying to at one time and I couldn't figure out how.

    The Terms of Use (Section 11) state: "If you wish to terminate your Digg account, you may simply discontinue using the Services."

    Does that mean it gets deleted after a certain time of inactivity? Anyone here know?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22Yeah, I called it. Nine times, right here on digg. Each time I was met with "noooo they'd never sell out!".

    Uh huh.
  • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23You guys should be more angry.. they have repeatedly promised they wouldn't sell themselves in the foreseeable future, and then suddenly they are doing just that behind our backs (apparently).

    Anyway, if they do sell, DEMAND that it isn't News Corp. That would just be disastrous. Google is the only company that I wouldn't mind the site selling to.
  • daldredge, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22That sound you just heard was the sound of the Fox hating / digg worshipers heads exploding.

    :)
  • WiseWeasel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16I'd have to agree that if Murdoch buys it, I'm out like trout. If Google, or maybe someone like Time Warner or even the New York Times Company were to buy it, however, I would be all for it. To me, is DOES matter who is profiting from the services I use. I would definitely not want to contribute anything to the success of such a villain as Murdoch...
  • scott1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14"This isnt some hobby. It cost money to run Digg."
    I think Kevin originally started digg as a hobby when he was still on tv.

    I hope that this is only a rumor. Newscorp also owns fox news. But I wouldn't mind if google buys digg.

    I wonder if Rev3 will also get bought.
  • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15It depends how they sell out. If they hand Digg over to News Corp., then there is no way I'd remain a member.
  • bbene, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14News Corp. ? So if that happens then we'll end up having to visit MyDigg.com - THE social news networking website. Hmm, better go buy that domain before they do....
  • airencracken, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18***** that.
  • Sapsucker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13What advertisements? (lovingly pets his Adblock extension)
  • analdisco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11"Ross Levinsohn, head of News Corp’s internet division, said some of the material taken down contained “hate speech”. Some of it, he said, was “too risqué”."

    Look at those grounds for censorship. They're intentionally left ambiguous and open to interpretation by the censors. Do you honestly think that News Corp. is your friend? Do you honestly think their only goal is to make the world a better place?

    Digg would be extremely easy to regulate, anyway. Just think about all the steps a story goes through to get to the front page, and how easily you or I could tamper with the process with complete control over the site.

    I'm not asking you to agree with me, just to think about why Digg is such an unusual and special site, and how easily something like that could be broken in the hands of a few greedy men.

    Source:
    http://www.blogherald.com/2006/03/31/myspace-is-it-censorship-or-is-it-protection/
  • titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Nah, don't feel like being behind a few days on me' news
  • elastikos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Um. If you are going to post code savvy replies, then you should at least get the formula right.

    If NewsCorp is greater than Digg?
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