• The Washington Post , Thursday, May 10, 2012 12:26 PM

As earlier reports predicted, SocialCode -- a social media advertising firm and subsidiary of The Washington Post Co. -- has confirmed hiring away 15 engineers from social news site Digg. Rubbing it in (or just making an accurate assessment of the situation), WaPo writes: “Digg was once one of SiliconValley’s most promising start-ups. But the service, which allows readers to vote on stories and displays the most popular, has declined in recent years as users turned to services such as Reddit or Twitter to distribute news to their friends.”

In 2010, Digg downsized its staff from 67 employees to 42, and in March 2011, founder Kevin Rose left the company. Some reports expected The Washington Post Company’s WaPo Labs to take on Digg’s tech team. That division makes products like Trove and The Washington Post’s Social Reader app. “Instead, the team is joining the advertising consulting firm, which helps companies find ways to market their goods and services through Facebook and Twitter,” WaPo writes. Around since early 2011, SocialCode is not acquiring the Digg.com domain, service or technology -- yet members of its leadership team are taking lead roles at SocialCode. For one, Alan Lippman, who had been Digg’s VP of ad products, will be the chief scientist at SocialCode.

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