As the number of the people who contribute to blogs and read blogs both continue to rise, so does the amount of money spent on blog advertising.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

Blogs are increasingly becoming a larger part of everyday life. According to a recent report by eMarketer, the number of people who contribute to blogs as well as the number of people who read blogs are both steadily increasing. In the U.S. during 2007, about 23 million people or 12% of in Internet population "published a new blog or updated an existing blog." The number of "bloggers" is expected to be upwards of 34.7 million people by 2012 (16% of the total Internet Population).

Additionally, the number of people in the U.S. who consistently read at least one blog per month is also on the rise. In 2007 about 94 million people or 50% of Internet users fell into the blog reader category defined by eMarketer. By 2012 this number is predicted to increase to about 145 million people or 67% of the Internet population.

Advertisers have taken notice of the increasing number of bloggers and blog readers and have started to increase the amount of money spent on blog advertising. As seen in the chart below, money spent on blog advertising is expected to steadily increase from 2007 to 2012. Blogs are great for advertisers because they attract a specific audience allowing for specific demographic targeting for advertisers to focus on.