Posted on 08/08/2005 4:13:34 PM PDT by kristinn
U.S. blog readership in the first quarter jumped 45 percent to 49.5 million people, or one-sixth of the total U.S. population, a report said Monday, suggesting the blogosphere is becoming increasingly alluring to online advertisers.
The increase means 30 percent of U.S. Internet users visited blog sites in the quarter, according to the comScore Media Metrix report.
In the quarter, Google’s Blogspot had 19 million unique visitors, which comScore noted was more than big mainstream media sites NYTimes.com, USAToday.com, and WashingtonPost.com. However, these visitors were spread around Blogspot’s millions of individual sites.
As far as advertisers are concerned, blog readers are a desirable demographic—young, wealthy, likely to shop online, and with high-speed Internet connections. They visit 77 percent more web pages than the average Internet user.
The most popular blogs were Free Republic with 3.6 million visitors, Drudge Report with 2.3 million, Fleshbot (a Gawker Media blog) with 1.2 million, followed by Gawker and Fark, both with 1.1 million. Regularly updated blogs won a huge portion of the overall visits. Drudge Report alone had 44.3 million visits.
Most popular were political blogs followed by “hipster” lifestyle blogs, tech blogs, and blogs written by women, comScore noted.
However, blog readership tails off rather quickly, with the majority of blogs having under 100 visitors a day, according to Rick Bruner, director of research for DoubleClick, who co-authored the comScore report.
The comScore data does not address these smaller blogs as many are merged with all the other blogs hosted by the same domain, as in the case of Six Apart’s TypePad. Others simply did not make the cut, as the list was limited to the Top 400 most-trafficked blog domains. All but one of the blog domains used in the report had more than 1,000 unique visitors.
Down the Food Chain
In Mr. Bruner’s opinion, the high price of advertising on top sites will lead companies to “start looking deeper down the food chain for more affordable advertising.” He estimated that about half of total page views on the Internet are to small sites.
Last week, Technorati announced that it had measured 14.2 million blogs, 55 percent of them active, about double the amount in March. The company counted 900,000 new posts per day in July, nearly double the amount in January (see Blogs: 900,000 Posts a Day).
Mr. Bruner said that the Technorati numbers give credence to comScore’s report. But, he said, “They’re not really comparable. Technorati can spider links, but they can’t actually look at traffic.”
An international report that combines blog creation with blog readerships of all sizes has yet to be completed.
The comScore report was sponsored by Six Apart and blog network Gawker Media.
For several years I've said that the only thing smart about the Chinese is that they wear pajamas to work.
:-)
Yes, that's a good combination. However, I believe that we are so big that advertising will be far more than enough to meet our expenses.
Let me see...I'm not young... not wealthy... I don't shop online... I do have a high-speed connection...and I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.
"Breaking news appears on FR faster now than on Drudge in many instances."
Agreed. I think it's a case of networked citizen reporting (FreeRepublic) and individual citizen reporting (Matt Drudge).
Drudge is excellent at what he does; at the same time, he's only one person.
A lot.
Whereas at DU...they're walking 'round in women's underwear...or boxers, if they're women.
Not me...... I have 0 threads and 4629 posts........... I'm such a newbie!
http://www.comscore.com/method/tech.asp
comScore Technology
At the core of comScore Networks is our proprietary data
collection technology. Massively scalable, this system allows us to capture a comprehensive view of surfing and buying behavior of more than 2 million participants in an extremely cost-effective manner.
These members, representing a cross section of the Internet population, give comScore explicit permission to confidentially monitor their online activities in return for valuable benefits such as server-based virus protection, sweepstakes prizes, and the opportunity to help shape the future of the Internet.
comScore technology is downloaded to any computer in a matter of seconds and unobtrusively routes each participant’s Internet connection through comScore's server network, without requiring any further action on the part of the individual. The technology allows comScore to capture the complete details of communication to and from each individual's computer - on a site-specific, individual-specific basis. This includes every site visited, page viewed, ad seen, promotion used, product or service bought, and price paid.
comScore technology also integrates offline data (such as supermarket purchasing or automotive registrations) and attitudinal data gathered through consumer surveys.
comScore Technology Breakthroughs
comScore technology is a breakthrough in two fundamental ways:
First, in order to accurately measure customer purchasing and other transactions on the Internet, a sample in excess of two million people must be monitored. That's because the look-to-buy ratio for many commerce sites is two percent or less. This means that to capture just one buyer, 50 surfers must be monitored. Thus, panels that measure merely thousands of people simply are not large enough to get the job done. comScore meets the need, with a panel that currently numbers more than 2 million members and adds thousands of people per day.
Second, other measurement systems are limited to a view of URL or “clickstream” activity. This provides no information about the content on each Web page, including secure content, without which it is impossible to capture detailed transaction activity across all sites. comScore's proprietary technology captures not just clickstreams but all content, including secure content, in an elegantly simple manner that ensures the complete privacy protection of all participants.
These technology breakthroughs enable comScore to create “Private Networks” – also known as Custom Panels – for businesses seeking the most granular and actionable insight available into the needs of their customers. (For more information see comScore Private Networks).
Great news! Now if they would figure out that FR is a news forum, not a blog...
Didn't mindbender26 break the news about Jennings dying last night long before anyone else?
I see, so how does this differ from generic 'blogs'....?
I believe he did
And probably one of the few ways to actually get valid surfing habits. Thanks for the clarification.
HAHA! I never stay at hotels if I can help it. I've seen too many expose's on how filthy they are!
The FEC wants to regulate blogs? Where? When? I am interested in sources please?
Any reason you haven't posted a thread yet? It's safe for you to do it now, lol. For me, I have posted a total of 55 threads and 3,247 replies.
Information by any other name informs.
;-)
The Washington Post and LA Times were after FR. We were getting too influential and having an affect on things they considered their own.... like swaying public opinion. They sued and won.
Technically they could go after blogs, I suppose, but very few have the influence FR does.
Way to go FReepers!!
To which, I add, thank you, and...
BWAHAhAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
Great idea. Pony up yall...one dollar apiece to Jim, Amy and John; It will come in handy in case they wanted to do something for the soldiers or whatever they wish.
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