Could Digg Take on Google?

By Li Evans

While out in Chicago, I got to meet and chat with Todd Malicoat aka Stuntdbl.  I'd been reading his blog for a while, and really respect a lot of the ideas he's been presenting.  The opportunity to meet him, really added to my respect, as I found him totally approachable and a genuinely nice guy (even if he wanted to kill Rand - haha).

Todd has a great piece out on his blog today, one that really provoked some thoughts and is actually making its way up the Digg ladder.  Todd's piece is about Digg, and how it could possibly take on Google, and even offers some suggestions for Digg to improve beyond its recently launched upgrade. 

It really made me stop and think, could Digg REALLY take on Google, or Yahoo! or even MSN for that matter?  Perhaps in a vertical search area, yes, Digg could really take on these market leaders.  But regular search? Although the idea seems easy, in the well thought out way that Todd presents it, the reality, in my opinion is likely not.

The reason I say this?  User Intent.  In a vertical search area, it's already defined.  In regular search,  the Search Engines have to figure out and present the most relevant results to the user.  That is a lot tougher to figure that out, without a predefined vertical.  But again, in a vertical search area, like for instance News Search or even Finance Search - Digg could really give the major search engines a run for their money.

Todd's got excellent points and recommendations - and the article is very thought provoking.  I suggest that you all check it out and give it a "Digg".