digg

Google has launched a Web page plug-in called What's Popular that can give iGoogle home page users a service similar to those offered by Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and Mixx.

Google's own servers select links from YouTube and Reader and blend them with those submitted by users. The gadget shows users these links along with up and down arrows to vote approval or disapproval of the site.

Lacking in the Google feature is any way users can comment on a Web page, one of the central features of Digg and its rivals.

Rumors of Google's interest in acquiring … Read more

Don't want to deal with the DiggBar? Or what if you want other tools to help improve your Digg experience? We have you covered with these Firefox add-ons.

DiggBar Remover Start with the DiggBar Remover. It removes the DiggBar when you're browsing. Done? OK, move on to these other add-ons...

Digg Comment Spotlight Sifting through Digg comments can be a pain. But the Digg Comment Spotlight highlights comments on a Digg story that were dugg by other users. So, if you don't want to read comments that were buried or never dugg, the Digg Comment Spotlight will help you quickly find all those comments that others liked. It makes reading comments much easier.

Digg Firefox Extension The Digg Firefox Extension lets you know if the page you're on has been submitted to Digg. If not, you can submit it in just a few clicks. If it has, the extension displays the number of Diggs the story has, how many people have commented on it, and the story's description. My favorite feature is the popular story notification, which pops up whenever a new story hits the front page. Overall, the Digg Firefox Extension is designed well. It's a must-have for any Digg fanatic.

Digg Sidebar The Digg Sidebar gives you real-time updates of all Digg activity. It runs in the sidebar and updates automatically without requiring a refresh. It's useful for some who want constant updates about Digg, but I didn't like how much screen real estate it took up. And resizing it, while possible, reduces its usefulness, since it's harder to read stories. It's best suited to the Digg addict.… Read more

As announced last week, Digg relaunched its DiggBar feature late Tuesday, making it something that only appears for registered users, who are now able to turn it off completely. That new option shows up in Digg's user settings panel which means users can choose whether they feel like using it.

Along with the change, the company has also adjusted the DiggBar's behavior once you leave the site to go read a story. For one it's smaller, in an attempt to take up less space on sites you're visiting. Digg has also "temporarily" removed the … Read more

Social-news site Digg has ended its advertising partnership with Microsoft more than a year before the deal was set to expire. Instead of relying on Microsoft as its exclusive ad partner, Digg will now primarily use the internal sales force it recently began building; Microsoft will handle remnant inventory.

"Starting July 1, Microsoft will sell network inventory for Digg through the Microsoft Media Network, which it has been doing successfully for the last year and a half," a statement from Microsoft read. "Digg has created its own internal sales executive team, and we respect their decision to … Read more

In response to a wash of negative user and media feedback, Digg is making a few key changes to the DiggBar, the company's URL shortening and Web page-framing service.

Within the next week Digg is turning off the DiggBar for all of its unregistered users, who will be sent directly to each site's main page without the DiggBar or a shortened link--just like it was before the DiggBar even existed. Additionally, for those who are registered with Digg, there will be an option to turn it back on or off on a permanent basis.

Despite the backlash, Digg'… Read more

John Gruber of the blog Daring Fireball doesn't like what Digg's doing with its DiggBar, and has come up with a relatively simple way to block it on his own site. By making a small change to his site's PHP files, any shortened DiggURL created for one of his pages will automatically take users to a separate page Gruber has created that chides the company.

In Gruber's opinion, the service, which automatically shortens a site's URL and adds some of Digg's features to the top of the source content, is bad for both users … Read more

Digg has just relaunched its site search engine with an all-new results page that gives users better ways to filter what it comes up with. It now gives a new visual breakdown of how much a word or phrase has appeared on the site, going all the way back to 2006, as well as showing how many matching stories have been been submitted to the site within the past day, week, and month.

While there's still the option to sort by media type and source, new to the results page is a way to filter by the number of … Read more

I know there are some bloggers who would like to charge people for leaving comments on their posts.

Not I. Here at Technically Incorrect, you are totally free to besmirch or befuddle without charge.

However, Facebook is now testing a rather interesting way for members to show appreciation for the quality of their friends' updates--giving them credits. And, as I read the smaller print of the scheme, it seems to be something of a dripping revenue stream.

Essentially, the idea is that when you decide that an item on your feed deserves a comment--"How lovely! That's YOUR … Read more

The launch of the DiggBar on Thursday was big news. Not only for URL-shortening services, but for the idea of one site bringing some of its features along for the ride, even when a user has left it to go somewhere else.

The idea is not new, though; some services have been doing it for years. We've put together a list of some of the big sites that do it, and why it matters.

Google/Ask/Yahoo/Live Image Search

Searching for images on Google, Ask, Live, and Yahoo all bring along a framed toolbar, or a special framed bar that segments the content. When you click on an image from the results on any of these engines it keeps a little frame on the top of the page that gives you copyright and size information, along with a link to the full-quality version. More importantly though, it lets users start another search or simply hop back to the results page.

Why it's important: All routes go back to the search results--and more importantly, back to the ads that were on the page. If the company can get you to start another search, that's another ad impression. Also, from a user's point of view, it's comforting to have a quick breadcrumb trail to get yourself out of there if it's a page you didn't want to end up on, especially if it's coded to keep your back button from letting you leave the page.

Facebook

Facebook has had a link sharing feature since late 2006. Only recently, however did shared links come with a navigation bar that comes with the users when they click off-site links. The bar includes who posted the item (in case you're passing along something one of your friends originally shared), as well as the option to add your own comment, or re-share it to your news feed or to other Facebook buddies.

Why it's important: Like what the search engines do for images, Facebook is doing for any link its users share. It simply adds some of Facebook's features like commenting and re-sharing, right on top of the site. It's a much bigger deal for Facebook users though, since for anything that needs a lot of real estate, they can check it out in its original location (read: out of Facebook's limited-size news feed), all without feeling like they've left the site. … Read more