Investors Fund Big Digg Expansion

Social news site Digg has raised $28.7 million to fund an aggressive expansion and fend off rumors it will be sold, IDG News Service reports. The 4-year-old site, which allows readers to rank stories, plans to double its staff to 150, revamp its features, and expand internationally. The move is likely in response to Yahoo's launch of its own social news site, called Buzz.

Other rivals include Reddit and StumbleUpon. Digg has long been rumored to be coveted by larger players such as Google or Microsoft. "That's part of the message," said Digg's chief executive. "We want to be independent. We have only completed about 15% of all the ideas that we have." (More Digg stories.)