(3 September 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: According to a recent Synovate/Marketing Daily survey, eight out of 10 Americans know what a blog is and almost half have visited blogs.

The study, conducted online with 1,000 adults in the US using Synovate eNation, shows that blogging has entered the mainstream.

Eight per cent of Americans currently have their own blog. This is surprising, given that a few years ago hardly anyone knew what a blog was.

Loyalty to specific blogs is also fairly strong with 46 per cent of blog readers saying that they visit the same blogs regularly versus 54 per cent who instead usually surf for new and different ones. Awareness and usage of blogs, along with people penning their own, strongly correlates to age, with younger people being much more active. Nearly 90 per cent of those aged 25 to 34 know what a blog is, compared to just 65 per cent of those aged 65 and over.

Similarly 78 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 who are aware of blogs, say they have visited a blog, compared to only 45 per cent of older Americans.

Also, more women than men are bloggers, with 20 per cent of American women who have visited blogs having their own versus 14 per cent of men. As blogs have gained in popularity, so has the frequency with which they're read. Though the majority of blog readers (39 v) view them less than
once a month, another 28 v visit them monthly, 15 v visit them daily and five per cent read them several times a day.

Of course, while blog usage continues to grow, so does their attractiveness as a potential marketing tool. In fact, 43 per cent of blog visitors indicated that they had noticed advertisements on blog websites, rising to 61 per cent among those aged 18 to 24. Almost one-third of consumers have clicked on an ad while reading a blog.

But even though consumers are spending more time with blogs, they aren't necessarily replacing other media. Only 13 per cent of blog readers say they spend less time with other forms of media (newspapers, television, radio) since they've started following blogs.

Because anyone can start one anytime, blogs are not necessarily seen as legitimate information sources despite the fact that some bloggers are experts in their area. However, as their prominence and influence continues to rise, this could certainly change.

When asked about the types of information they get from blogs, 65 per cent said that they get opinions, while 39 per cent get news and 38 per cent get entertainment. About one in three people read gossip on blog websites while only two per cent use blogs to catch up on news about family and friends.

The main reason people read blogs? Almost half of those surveyed say it's because they find blogs entertaining, and another 26 per cent read them to learn about specific hobbies or other areas they're interested in. Only 15 per cent of blog readers say they do so for news, indicating that the more traditional forms of news consumption still have a stronghold.

Among those who said they have never read a blog, the main reason cited was that they're "just not interested". Another 15 per cent said that they don't care about the opinions and ideas typically expressed in blogs.