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Subvert and Profit, Still Going Strong

When Subvert and Profit (the latest service aimed at gaming Digg) launched, there was a lot of talk about how the site would simply and quickly vanish. Well, it hasn't closed or been shut down yet, so I thought it was about time to get an update on how things are going over there. Here is the transcript of my email conversation with Ragnar at the service:

Q: Since your launch, how many users have signed up and participated in Subvert and Profit?

Over 1500 users have registered to date. Not all of these are active, though, as some got banned and some have been quarantined by us. Ever since Digg began actively trying to shut us down, we have been operating on a core of trusted users. Despite this, we have plenty of active users.

Q: Have you noticed many repeat customers? or do you generally have advertisers try the service once and thats it?

More than half of our advertisers are repeat customers.

Q: Can you give any idea of how many stories the service has successfully sent to the homepage?

In between 50 and 100. Sometimes an advertiser will gamble and buy less than 50 Diggs, and we process this successfully, but the story does not hit the front page.

Q: Do 100% of the stories submitted make it to the homepage?

No way! Our success rate is somewhere around two thirds. Also, we sometimes reject advertisements that we feel will get buried. We currently offer no guarantee, though we may offer a "front page of Digg or most of your money back" social media optimization package in the future.

Q: Do you know if any SEO's use your service to seed links on Digg?

Certainly. Almost all of our repeat customers are SEO guys. I feel that Subvert and Profit is a great SEO tool, as Digg is PageRank 8 and your content is exposed to many bloggers who also link to you after seeing your story on Digg.

Q: Have you ever been contacted by Digg directly and been asked to shut down your services?

No. I suspect Digg has many other priorities to deal with, though they have spent some time actively trying to shut us down (by banning users).

Q: Are you a millionaire because of Subvert and Profit? If so, can I have a flat screen tv? :)

Talk to me in a few months. Subvert and Profit is still in its infancy, and Digg is just the beginning.

Thanks for your time!

Reader Comments (2)

Paul, June 20, 2007

I'm one of those u mentioned that joined n got banned by Digg. :(

I have to say e Subvert and Profit's system to track diggs by its users still need to be tested. I digged a couple of stories listed in Subvert and Profit. But e system did not registered my diggs > Not paid. :( Only my first digg is being registered.

Soon after Digg went on an exercise to clean up Subvert and Profit's users. That's when I got banned from Digg.

Lol... e moral of e story is not be a cheapo n try to earn a quick buck, u might get urself banned too. Instead focus on writing good content. U will earn ur digg just as well. :P

Johny X, June 28, 2007

I was testing the service and bought 50 diggs. I was banned from Digg within hours. I bought the diggs for a random post I found that might have some traction. I wonder if digg punishes the sites as well? They removed the story when they disabled my account. Subvert and profit is a bs service. I like the idea but wouldn't go near them again. I must say that I was hoping it worked though.