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Last week, Digg announced it is working on
performance initiatives:
“Today, we’re also making some changes to reduce page payloads and minimize HTTP requests with subtle UI changes. By removing the 16px user icon from stories on the home page and other story lists, we’re reducing HTTP requests to Digg for a warm cache load by around 75%.”
I’ve asked a few developers [not associated with Digg] about this new initiative. Each had much the same response: Seems like a no brainer; surely Digg’s developers can work out a way to speed things up and leave the icons on…
Of course Digg’s developers can work out how to do this. They’re not stupid.
However, there has been an interesting shift in to whom Digg allocates pixels lately.
Just over a week ago, Digg’s Chief Revenue Officer, Chas Edwards, offers up this gem:
“We’re very excited about [ Digg Ads] at Digg, and not because we’ve found a few extra pixels to sell to advertisers but because Digg Ads is our first step in the direction of helping marketers speak to the Digg community in the local language of Digg.”
Clearly, every pixel matters to a site like Digg, not only in load time, but also aesthetically. And of course Digg’s future is at stake here; I just wish they’d be more straight forward about it all instead of trying to mask with inane statements.
Why is that statement inane? When marketers “speak the local language” of the media platforms they buy into, it is more effective with readers / viewers / listeners of that media, and thus it works better for the advertisers who continue to support that media with their advertising dollars. TV commercials (think 1958) that spoke in the language of radio were terrible…. To be clear, Digg is charging money for Digg Ads, and that income will be part of what allows us to build & run Digg as a free service to readers. Didn’t mean to be coy about that part!