Digg, a news site that is edited by its users, is at the centre of renewed takeover speculation, with blog reports suggesting that a “major media player” is weighing a bid of up to $400 million (£190 million).

The site, which recently agreed a three-year advertising deal with Microsoft thought to be worth $100 million, has been linked to takeover approaches several times since its launch in November 2004.

CBS, the US broadcaster, and Yahoo!, the internet group, have been linked to past mooted bids but have been ruled out as suitors this time around, according to Valleywag, the technology blog that reported the present talks.

Valleywag speculated that The New York Times Co and the Washington Post Co — two groups whose sites receive traffic from Digg — could show interest, but added that the site had a history of “almost-but-not-quite deals”.

However, several of Digg’s peers have been bought in recent months, including Reddit.com, which was acquired by Condé Nast, the publisher, and Newsvine, which was bought by MSNBC.com.

In 2005, Yahoo! bought Del.icio.us.

Users of Digg, a posterchild of the so-called web 2.0 collection of web-based services, submit stories from online sources and then vote on how prominently they should be displayed.

The site has traditionally focused on technology news and has also given rise to Diggnation, a video podcast watched by more than 300,000 people each week.

Digg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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