Propeller

When Propeller launched, everyone had questions about it's ability to survive. Propeller launched in mid-September (let's call it two months ago) and was a shift from the Netscape.com domain. It's safe to say, most (if not all) of the former Netscape.com social news traffic made the move just fine. Both Alexa and Compete show very nice increases for Propeller since launch. And what's even more interesting (though not part of this article) is that Netscape.com traffic only halved itself when Propeller split off. I assume this might drop some more as time moves on but it's still showing stronger than I expected.

And even better for the Propeller crew, it's getting closer to passing Reddit. Wonder what the team over at Wired is thinking on the acquisition now? Now Propeller has to work on growth - I haven't seen any stories cross my desk after the launch - they certainly need to work on this.

First let's take a look at the stats via Compete - unique visitor count for October 2007:

• Digg - 17,417,569
• Reddit - 1,683,673
• Propeller - 1,454,912

And a yearly chart showing growth -- the Digg growth is just amazing:

Now the numbers from Alexa - this is their "traffic count" metric with a 3 month average (1 week average):

• Digg - 117 (156)
• Reddit - 912 (1,100)
• Propeller - 2,308 (1,695)

Does this mean that Propeller will grow to the Digg traffic level in a year? Nope, I certainly doubt it. But could Propeller become a strong #2, absolutely. And looks like Duncan Riley might just be eating these words, "It might be too early to Deadpool the Netscape Social news experiment yet, but without the type-in traffic and brand recognition of the Netscape name, the whole idea will struggle to survive. I give it 12 months max."

The real key to longevity for Propeller is whether it's bringing in revenue for AOL. If it is, then it remains, if it isn't, then it goes and Duncan is right. This isn't two developers in a basement creating Propeller.

Check out our previous Propeller coverage including an interview with the Director, Tom Drapeau.

Editor's note: Compete is a current CN Sponsor. They had no involvement in the creation of this story.

One of my favorite reads is the good doctor (yes, a real doctor), Tony Hung. His commentary and opinions are almost always on point and accurate. However last night he wrote a piece that had an incorrect diagnosis. He should know that a doctor can't just look at a chart and know what's wrong without talking to the patient (or in this case investigating the cause). Unfortunately, Duncan at TechCrunch immediately posted about it as well, thereby furthering the incorrect diagnosis.

Here is Tony's analysis:

About a month ago, I wrote about how Netscape dumped its social news component into its own site, Propeller.com and wondered rhetorically how it would turn out — with the subtext being, perhaps, how *Netscape* would really fare now that its social news component was on its own. Well, a month has come and gone, and I think that if Alexa is any indication (and yes, it certainly has its problems), the answer might be “substantial”.

He then shows the following chart to backup his "substantial" claim: (come inside for chart)

So what did Tony miss?

• Naturally when you switch domains traffic to the former will decrease
• If we look back before Netscape became Jason's social news failure, those people who liked the old Netscape left. They wouldn't have any reason to return after the site moved to the Propeller domain.
• And lastly, and most importantly, netscape.com does not exist anymore - it redirects to aol.com - hello drop. Rogelio Bernal Andreo, coRank CEO agrees. His comment on TechCrunch, "I just noticed that nestcape.com now redirects to netscape.aol.com. So I guess the whole argument is just flawed then. It doesn’t take into account what I mentioned before, and it doesn’t consider that netscape.com is now a redirect to netscape.aol.com."

Check out our previous Propeller coverage including my open letter to the AOL executive team.

For Immediate Release:

To: Tom Drapeau and AOL Executives

From: Allen Stern

Please accept this notice of my disappointment in the launch today of your Propeller product. Before I get into my concerns and issues with Propeller, I want to say that I have been quite loyal to AOL since I started using the product in 1990-1991. I still have the same email as I had then and have stuck with you through thick and thin. My first AOL bill was $450.00 and I never burned one of those thousands of spam CDs I received in the mail over the years.

When you guys allowed Jason Calacanis to talk you into changing Netscape into a social news rating service, I gave you a chance. Even when others called you a clone of Digg, I stood by you. Even when Jason ran away from the drowning ship and left everyone else to drown and die, I still offered suggestions for improvement.

When Techcrunch writers believed that the site was going to close and Tom Drapeau said it wasn't closing, I offered Tom an interview to air his side of what was going on and coming up.

When the announcement came out that the name was changing to Propeller, many bloggers said it had already failed. I stood strong against Duncan for example and said let's give AOL/Propeller a chance. Even when Robert Seidman told me I was basically a moron for even thinking you could offer something innovative, I told him let's wait and see. I did note one important thing which is that you should absolutely not put up the same site just on a new domain.

Yet today I see you launched (or is it re-launched?) the Netscape site on Propeller with just a change of logo. Not one change. Now Tom talks about upcoming changes on the blog, but why not hold back on a launch and wait until the changes are ready? A bad first date means no second date my friend.

Marshall and Netscape scout Muhammad say there is more coming, but is it too late? Why was the change so critical to make today? Was someone upstairs in HQ looking for the Netscape.com domain to be switched asap?

I am disappointed with your decision and while I will continue to use the AOL product, I will never again stand up as a Propeller/Netscape defender.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Allen Stern

Tom Drapeau, Netscape Director has announced the new name for the old social news site located at Netscape.com. It's now called "Propeller". From Tom's blog entry:

The Netscape social news experience that you are currently using today will be migrated and revealed soon at http://www.propeller.com/. We're working hard behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transition before we officially launch at this new destination.

It is important to us that you feel empowered to choose how you want to consume your news and participate in the community. As we mentioned in a recent post, the Netscape.com site will soon be redirected to the new Netscape portal, a more traditional and editorially-driven news experience. It's already live, so you can check it out now if you haven't already. You'll notice some elements of our social news site there in short order, so that it will be easy for you to go back and forth and engage in each if you like.

Interesting name. Tip comes from Muhammad who notes, "my first thoughts on the brand name and the logo are both great. here’s what ‘propeller’ means to me. by definition, to propel means to motivate, actuate, move, prompt, incite, impel, or to give incentive for action and cause to move forward with force. that said, what will we (at propeller, previously netscape social news) be propelling?"

And he is right. I think it's a good name and could lend to a feeling of forward movement which is important for AOL/Netscape/Propeller.