Survey: Blog Readership Skyrocketing

In six years, blogs have gone from navel-gazing online diaries to must-read Internet publications that rival the reach and influence of traditional media properties.

A new study from online research firm comScore Networks Inc. reveals that 50 million U.S. Internet users visited blog sites in the first quarter of this year, up 45% from the first quarter of 2004. That represents about 30% of all U.S. Internet users, or a sixth of the total U.S. population.

The study is based on data from comScore's opt-in research panel. The panel tracks the online activity of 1.5 million U.S. Internet users and reflects the behavior of consumers who visited the 400 top Weblog properties and blog-hosting services during the first three months of 2005.

Given their popularity, the study suggests that blogs can now be thought of as part of the mainstream media.