Yahoo is taking some criticism for launching a site that includes a Digg-like voting feature earlier today. The main criticism is coming from Digg users, who can sometimes stop fighting long enough to band together into a very angry mob. But a few bloggers are adding their own fuel as well.
I don’t have any problem with what Yahoo did. First, Yahoo credited Digg in a blog post announcing the new product. Second, the purpose of the site has nothing to do with finding and promoting news stories. Rather, they’re using the Digg-voting mechanism to power the Yahoo Suggestion Board where users can submit their comments to Yahoo on various products.
It’s an excellent way for Yahoo to gauge the popularity of suggestions, and is in no way competitive with Digg. It’s simply a compliment to the efficiency of the Digg model. I’m siding with Yahoo on this one.
