August 22, 2006
Blogging for big bucks
It's not just a hobby -- some small sites are making big money. With Internet-like speed, blogs have gone from self-indulgent hobbies to flourishing businesses. Real businesses, with real revenue streams from real advertisers. Business 2.0 reports on CNNMoney.com and gives some real figures on some famous and familiar blogs. [via digg]
-- TechCrunch: More than 1.5 million readers regularly check out TechCrunch which is pulling in $60,000 in ad revenue every month. That's 10 times what the site was making earlier this year.
-- BoingBoing: a four-person operation, BoingBoing bills itself as a directory of wonderful things, is on track to gross an estimated $1 million in ad revenue this year.
-- PaidContent.org: The digital-media news site PaidContent.org, headquartered in the second bedroom of a Santa Monica apartment, is set to post even more than BoingBoing.
-- Fark: Though not a blog by most blogger standards, Fark.com is a site packed with sophomoric humor run by a lone guy in Lexington, Ky., is on pace to become a multimillion-dollar property.
Web ad agency Organic puts ad spending on blogs at $40 million this year.
Still, the blogging-for-dollars phenomenon is only in its infancy, and already blog ad spending is roughly twice what it was last year. With overall Web advertising expected to grow by 50 percent to $23.6 billion in 2010, it's certain that more and more ad dollars will land on blogs.
... Any downturn in the economy and ad market will, of course, hurt bloggers. The sheer numbers of blogging-for-dollars artists charging into the game could also muddy the market and put pressure on ad rates.
Still, it's far easier to weather a downturn when your costs are next to nothing. Plus, many players are diversifying, even within the blogosphere.
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