Corporate Governance

Blogs and Profitability

By J. Robert Brown

We normally write about law blogs.  We were, however, tipped off (from our ever vigilant librarian at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law) about the annual survey of the blogosphere (not just those with legal subject matter) undertaken by Technorati.  In the survey results, what caught our eye was the conclusion on blog profitability.  As the study noted:

• The majority of bloggers we surveyed currently have advertising on their blogs. Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in their blog is $1,800, but it?s paying off. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75K+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month. Note: median investment and revenue (which is listed below) is significantly lower. They are also earning CPMs on par with large publishers.

The Race to the Bottom is advertising free, so far.  But even in the legal business, a significant number of blogs accept advertising or sponsorship.  Paul Caron's arrangement with Foundation enables him to share the largess with each blogger in the Prof Blog Empire (based upon traffic data).  Want to read more on this?  Consult Of Empires, Independents, and Captives: Law Blogging, Law Scholarship, and Law School Ranking.

Full post as published by The Race to the Bottom on October 16, 2008 (boomark / email).