• by Kate Kaye , June 11, 2004

Blog readers are just a bunch of kids with too many opinions, too little money, and too much time on their hands. Think again. According to a survey of blog readers conducted by Weblog ad network Blogads, they're older and wealthier than what's portrayed by their stereotype. What's more: many buy and donate online, spend on books and magazines, and have clicked on a blog ad.

In what may be the first survey of blog readers as an emerging demographic, Blogads asked 17,159 blog site visitors about their age, income, media consumption, online spending habits, and political affiliations during a two-day period in May. It turns out that 61 percent of blog readers who participated in the survey are over 30 years of age. Almost 30 percent are between the ages of 31 and 40, while over 37 percent span the ages of 41-60. And nearly 40 percent have a household income of $90K and above.

Over the past year or so, observes Henry Copeland, CEO of Blogads, "The impression has been that the typical blog reader is a college student with an entry-level job, and therefore not an incredibly desirable demographic unless you're trying to sell beer." Copeland believes the survey belies this notion.

Not so long ago, television broadcasters were concerned that the desirable young male demographic was shunning the tube. They just may be spending some of their TV time on blogs. According to the study, 79.1 percent of blog readers questioned are male; 28.9 of these readers fall between the ages of 19 and 30, 30.6 percent between 31 and 40, and 34.4 percent between 41 and 60. Female blog readers skew older. Just under 20 percent are 19-30 years of age, while 47.5 percent are ages 41-60.

The rise of interest in blogs during such a politically charged time has fueled the popularity of blog sites that focus on politics and current events. For this reason, this arguably influential media niche has served as a community-building environment for political campaigns and issue-based movements, and has begun to draw political campaign ad dollars.

Of the 66.7 percent of survey participants who have clicked on a blog ad, 39.4 percent donated money as a result. Of all blog readers studied, 63 percent contributed money online to a campaign or cause in the last six months; 50 percent contributed more than $50, and 27 percent gave between $100 and $499 during that time. About 22 percent of blog visitors surveyed who have clicked on a blog ad purchased a product or service or forwarded a link to others as a result.

John Durham, president of interactive political marketing firm Pericles Consulting, reads blogs himself. But he's still not convinced they'd be an appropriate place for political campaign ads. Blogs "represent the very personal opinions of people," he suggests. "Political campaigns are about persuasion, and I'm not really sure sometimes whether it'd be in the best interest of a campaign to advertise there."

According to the survey, 40.2 percent of respondents are Democrats, 22.6 percent are Republicans, 20.2 percent are Independent, 11.3 percent are Libertarian, and 3.9 percent are aligned with the Green Party.

Blog readers are making significant consumer purchases online as well. During the last six months before they were surveyed, 50 percent of respondents spent more than $50 online on books and 23 percent spent $100-$199. They spend on periodicals, too: 36 percent plunked down between $20 and $99 on subscriptions through the Web in that time. In addition, 47 percent of blog readers spent more than $500 online for plane tickets, and 25 percent bought between $100 and $499 worth of consumer electronics online.

When asked where they get their news, those studied said that 54 percent of their news is gathered through Internet sources, 16.4 percent from print newspapers, and 12.7 percent from TV. While 55 percent of respondents believe that blogs are extremely useful in providing news and opinion, only 2 percent said the same of television. Over 45 percent of respondents spend between 5 and 10 hours reading blogs weekly.

The survey is "painting this picture of these information junkies," comments Blogads' Copeland. "These people are really, really plugged in and consuming."