Digg is the big daddy when it comes to Web 2.0 sites, as love it or hate it, the amount of people who use the site is far in excess of any of its competitors. And now it’s up for sale, at a knock down price, and with some very big names sniffing around for a deal.

I use Digg quite a bit, and I’m sure a lot of you reading this do too. It’s the one Web 2.0 site which seems to appeal across the spectrum of Internet users, although it must be said that a lot of famous Diggers are on the geeky side of things.

So news that it’s up for sale, and possibly about to be bought by one of a number of huge media companies has engulfed the blogosphere, with many people having an opinion.

According to Techcrunch, Digg has been pitching for a deal with a number of high profile tech and media companies for the last few months.

A source has now told them that a deal is very close, with Google and Microsoft two of the companies expected to be preparing bids. The others are simply described as “media/news companies” although I’d bet that one of those is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which already owns MySpace and will surely be looking to buy more Web phenomenons.

The big news in all this is really not that Digg is preparing to sell, but that the price has been dropped substantially. Last year, investment bank Allen & Co. were talking $300 million for the company. Now, if Google offered $200 - $225 million for the company, which is what Techcrunch’s source claims to be the case, Digg would likely accept.

I can see a bidding war taking place for Digg, and it’s likely to be between the old enemies of Microsoft and Google, with whoever else who thinks they can compete maybe gazumping them both.

What is sure to be intriguing is watching the reaction of the Digg users, who are renowned for making their voice heard on matters such as this. And if they come out against any proposed deal, how would that affect the site as a whole?

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Entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm under Google, Internet, Microsoft, Web2.0.  Print This Post

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