Digg’s Ads Make Me Want to Click On Them. I’m not the only one.

It’s been a couple months  since the new Digg advertising system went into effect. In that time it has single-handedly convinced me that this is how advertising should work and how normal ads are screwed.

The new ad system, if you don’t know, allows advertisers to show their ads as a “Diggable” item that will show on Digg.com’s front page. While we are all used to the interrupting ads on other sites and blogs, this system allows new product releases and good deals to be integrated into the site seamlessly.

However, Digg is a social site right? So Kevin Rose and his smart buddies thought up a great way for the users to contribute on the ad system. Just like the look and feel of the ads is identical to all of the other stories, so is the functionality. This means that all users can Digg and Bury these comments as they see fit. Now this may seem cool that Digg has added a democratic spin on advertising system, but it also adds a lot more functionality for the consumer, but especially advertisers.

The consumers get to share their opinions through Diggs which will, undoubtedly, affect how many people click through on the advertisement. But this also send direct feedback to the companies advertising on Digg. If you haven’t noticed lately, the advertisements on Digg have turned into interesting stories themselves. Just in the couple of months that this system has been in place, advertisers have found what really appeals to the average consumer and refined their headlines t0 capitalize on it.

In a recent New York Times article Digg’s Mike Maser released that these ads have reached a 3% click-through rating. If you consider the 40 million unique visitors Digg receives every month, that’s huge exposure for the advertisers. By comparison, the normal visual ads only have an average 0.08% . That’s a huge jump!

If you visited Digg just after this system was released, you would have seen ads with very little Diggs and very negative comments. Just in these couple of months, advertisers have finally gotten the message that people don’t care about the same silver ’09 Civic that they see everywhere, but more interested in the cool new tech behind the new car. Now, there are advertisements with more Diggs than some of the top stories. It is truly a refreshing experience.

So if you are just begging to find some advertising to look at, I would start with Digg. But in all honesty, I feel like this is soon going to be the only successful advertising method on the internet. When people are genuinely interested in your product, not only will more sales be generated, but there’ll be more exposure overall. And the stats don’t lie.