I will continue working on the Blawg Survey (please send me any suggestions) in the next few days, so today I will post a roundup of what went on over the weekend in blawg land.

1. Spam Blogs Grow-
There is a lot of talk about spam blogs, also known as “splogs” infesting Google. Apparently spammers have found a loophole in Google’s PageRank, the holy grail algorithm that ranks pages and orders them in Google’s index.

Some people are going so far as to ban comments coming from blogspot.com.

It’s bound to happen, as anyone can sign up and host a blog at blogspot.com for free. Having a free blogging service just invites spammers to set up shop. I’m not sure what is the best way to stop splogging and comment spam on blogger, but I have some implicit trust in Google. If anyone can tackle this problem, I think they can.

2. New Blawg Review-
On MayItPleaseTheCourt, a new blog review has been posted. Taking the form of a trial, the post gives a nice variety of blawg reviews.

3. The Nature of Buzz Marketing-
There has been considerable buzz lately about the ethics and legality of “buzz marketing.” There are questions regarding whether or not buzz marketing constitutes misleading consumers. As blogs proliferate, this issue will continue to be important.

4. White House vs. Anti-Miers Bloggers-
The Financial Times reports on the White House’s attempts to reach out to bloggers.

n Wednesday, Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, reached out to the bloggers who have been leading the charge against Ms Miers in a conference call whose content appeared almost instantaneously on the internet.

5. The Blawg Channel-
I’ve just discovered the BlawgChannel, a site that does a great job of bringing together the best of what’s out there in blawgs.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Yesterday I asked if anyone would be interested in a law firm blogging survey, and the answer was: Yes!

This weekend, I will begin to formulate a survey for blawggers. Here are the areas I’d like to focus on:

1. Who blawgs?- This will include age, sex, location, firm size, etc.
2. Ownership- Do blawggers own their own blog, or is it a firm resource? Do they own their own domain names?
3. Content- What topics do blawggers cover? How do they choose their topics? What sources do they use to create content for their posts?
4. Goals- What goals do blawggers have? Lead generation? Professional Development? Networking?
5. Promotion- How do blawggers increase their readership?
6. Revenue- Do blawggers have ads on their sites? If so, which types do they use?
7. Benchmarking- How do blawggers monitor their success? What types of statistical software packages do they use?
8. History- How long have blawggers been posting?
9. Audience- Who do blawggers identify as their target audience?
10. Discussion- How do blawggers deal with comments on their blogs? Do they moderate?

I have formulated a preliminary survey using the criteria above and would like to use this as a beta form of the survey I’ll be sending to blawggers. If you would like to complete this beta survey and help with suggestions and comments for improving it, please send me an email and I will send you the survey in email form.

After the initial test, I will create a form on this site, allowing blawggers to complete the survey online.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I have created blog surveys before, with minimal response rates. So I’m not sure if I’d have the same results with blawgs. Because of this, I’d like to know if blawggers would be interested in participating in, and learning from a survey of legal blogs.

Since blawgs are so unique, yet so varied, I’d like to learn more about what approaches blawggers are taking with their blogs:

• Individual vs. Firm blogs- Are most blawgs property of an individual and operated outside of a firm’s control?
• Update Frequency- How often do most blawggers post?
• Promotion- What sources are blawggers using to promote their site? (blawg.org, Technorati, etc?)
• Training- Are blawggers receiving any type of education (either marketing or technical) on blogging?
• Lead Generation- Are blawggers finding a return on investment by obtaining new clients?
• Statistical Benchmarks- What statistics programs are most used by blawggers, and which benchmarks are used to judge their success?

Please let me know if you’d be interested in a survey.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Since I don’t have time for a long post this morning, I thought I’d just do a short summary of what’s going on in the world of blogs this week.

Yahoo Blog Search
Yesterday I posted a short note on BlogString about Yahoo’s announcement of a new blog searching tool. Unlike Google’s Blog Search, Yahoo is trying to integrate blog posts into their Yahoo News results.

Today, I’ve found quite a few more in-depth reviews of Yahoo’s service.

On SearchEngineWatch, Danny Sullivan gives a thumbs up to the approach, but is hoping the service will evolve into something much better.

Gary Price wrote a follow-up to Danny Sullivan’s post, worries that some people won’t know what a blog is, and this will confuse searchers looking for news.

The Boston Herald picked up a standard press-release type of news story from the AP.

Lawyer Links
Dennis Kennedy posted on LawyerLinks, a corporate legal research tool. He likes it.

Popularity: 2% [?]

A member of the Google Blawg Group sent a link to a NY Times article on blawgging.

Though brief and somewhat basic, the article does introduce the mainstream to blawgs and blawgging. The article points to a survey by Blogads.com, completed (voluntarily) by 30,000 blog visitors last spring. The survey found that 5.1% of blog readers were lawyers or judges, a group that is fourth behind computer professionals, students and retirees.

Of those that said they kept their own blogs, 6.1% reported that they were in the legal profession.

The article sites John Hinderaker of Powerlineblog, who said:

“Good lawyers write well, quickly and clearly and do not fear arguments.”

Again, the article doesn’t really give a lot of insight into blawgging, but that’s not really its point. It just aimed to introduce blawgs to the masses.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Slashdot reports:

“The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision requiring an Internet service provider to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who targeted a local elected official. Judge Steele described the Internet as a ‘unique democratizing medium unlike anything that has come before,’ and said anonymous speech in blogs and chat rooms in some instances can become the modern equivalent of political pamphleteering.

Popularity: 2% [?]