In an effort to improve ads on Digg, the social bookmarking site has launched new ads to a small percentage of its users for testing. The new ads, called Digg Content Ads, are basically widgets that feature previous Digg homepage stories that are relevant to the industry or company that is advertising on Digg.
“At Digg, we think ads will feel more relevant (and thus work better for brands) if they feature the kind of content we look for online,” said Chas Edwards of Digg, on the company blog. “One way to do this – one that’s very native to the Digg experience – is to encourage advertisers to re-aggregate stories that have already been popular on Digg. The stories might be about a brand’s products or services, or they might be stories of general interest to that brand’s customers.”
Edwards also points out that advertisers cannot promote stories that haven’t already been promoted to Digg’s homepage organically. However, stories that have passed the age of promotion eligibility can still be featured. This means that although Digg Content Ads allow advertisers to re-publish existing stories into ad banners, and give those stories additional exposure with paid media, advertisers are not allowed to use this method to artificially boost stories into Digg’s homepage.
Digg plans to launch additional ads in the coming weeks.