MediaPost mentioned today that there are two new Digg clones that launched this week.
One of the sites, Dealspl.us, allows users to submit online deals on electronics, housewares, clothing, and other products, and then vote on the best values or products; the other, Sperocite.com, focuses on news stories about religion.
Dealspl.us, while hampered with a del.icio.us-like url that most won’t understand, has promise in that people are always looking for deals and if it succeeds as a virtual clearinghouse, it will do well financially, just on Adsense clicks. I say this because I have a small ‘deals‘ site that does well because the deals are affiliate links (as will be most of Dealspl.us’ submitted deals), and if Dealspl.us has Adsense on there to capture the offsite clicks that do not leave via a ‘deal’, they will do well financially, as is my experience on the Adsense on my own deals site. The danger here is that many affiliates do not allow keyword bidding on their name and those Adsense keywords, place on a site that will potentially see heavy traffic, may get the advertiser in trouble. And, as lawyers tend to see guilt in association, Dealspl.us may bear some of that legal burden. Of course, this is all conjecture on my part, but Dealspl.us may want to keep those things in mind as they grow (and I expect their growth to be substantial if they manage it well).
I was first introduced to Sperocite by Justin and the site also has promise as they’ve got a potentially loyal user base. I’ll be following both of these Digg clones closely in the coming months.
Of course, while all of this was happening, Digg users had quietly hacked Netscape (via). They used XSS, cross site scripting (the process of placing javascript into a story, digging it and when it winds up on the front page a popup is produced). This rather comical turn of events is seen by some as the death knell for the new Netscape, but I’m not sure I agree. Sure, it’s a shame that the users of Netscape weren’t prepared for the change and it was thrust upon them, causing some very negative feelings, however, the site IS being used. And, once this admittedly funny incident blows over, the page will remain and will likely gain in pageviews once people have resigned to the fact that it is staying. And, as the new Digg clones continue to pop up, Digg’s rabid users will soon forget to pester Netscape.
While I am an avid Digg user, it never ceases to amaze me that Digg’s users forget that the site is, per Kevin Rose, a combination of Slashdot and Del.icio.us. Innovators, like Rose, learn from what is doing well and they make it 1K times better. There’s no shame in imitation, it’s the sincerest form of flattery. Netscape will never see the success that Digg has seen, so Digg’s users will eventually give up the bullying. But, it is funny while it lasts, I suppose.
