Numbers don’t matter all that much, but it is somewhat interesting to see how the many different political blogs in Orange County compare to each other with regard to overall readership. Sadly, the only ranking service for political blogs, BNN, is now suspect, since they ranked the Liberal OC #11 in a week when their blog was down for technical reasons.
This week BNN ranked the Liberal OC #3, tied with us, but our Sitemeter statistics tell the real story. We have, as of today, 5,616 visits and 17,031 page views this week. The Liberal OC has had only 2,825 visits and 6,334 page views. How exactly are they tied with us? They aren’t in the same zip code at this point!
So how can we rank the local political blogs? There is a service called Alexa.com that ranks not just blogs but ALL websites, according to their traffic. Their rankings thus are worldwide, global website rankings. Let’s take a look at how Alexa.com is currently ranking the local Orange County political blogs, over the past week:
1. The Orange Juice blog: ranked 179,488
2. Red County (a statwide blog that is based in Orange County): 275,261
3. Bolsavik blog: 353,934
4. The Liberal OC blog: 462,905
5. Flash Report (a statewide blog that is based in Orange County): 541,492
6. John Seiler’s Blog: 637,519
I did not include the Orange County Register’s political blogs, Total Buzz and Orange Punch as all of the Register’s blogs are ranked together, so it is not a fair comparison to the blogs listed above. I did look up a slew of smaller political blogs but none of them were remotely close to the numbers listed above.
If I missed a significant Orange County political blog, please let me know so I can add it to the list.
The lesson to take away from this information is particularly pertinent to advertisers. Those who are paying a fortune to advertise on Red County and the Flash Report in particular should question their investment. For the Flash Report to have even less traffic than the Liberal OC is simply embarrassing! Even John Seiler’s blog, which is great but not widely read, is very close to the Flash Report’s overall traffic ranking.
As for our ranking, this is actually the third week that we have beat Red County. It is odd that our readership is growing during the political off-season. I think that our coverage of the disasters that are the City of Santa Ana and the Santa Ana Unified School District has helped give us a dedicated base of readership. And our mix of bipartisan bloggers provides a compelling variety of political views that you just won’t find on any of the other blogs listed above.
The L.A. Times recently published an article that claimed that blog readers want partisan blogs. I think they are wrong. Readers want the unvarnished truth. They want to be challenged. They don’t want to be spoon fed spin that has been sanitized by either the red or blue party hacks. When you consider that about a third of voters in California are now DTS, or decline to state, you can see the obvious. People who read blogs are smart and educated, for the most part. They can get their news anywhere – when they read blogs they are looking for something more. And the numbers prove it.
I thank our readers and our bloggers for making the Orange Juice the #1 political blog in Orange County. We couldn’t do it without you!
Art,
The whole my blogs bigger argument is starting to sound a bit silly. It is interesting how you praise the BNN rankings when you’re on top, and dismiss them when you are not.
You could at least however in your bragging point out to your visitors this fact about the Alexa rankings: Since most of Alexa’s traffic calculations are based on stats gathered by their toolbar, the actual rankings are wildly inaccurate.
Chris,
Well your boy Dan C. thought enough about the subject to write about the LA Times article I mentioned.
But even if you put aside the Alexa numbers, your blog and mine make our Sitemeter data public. And that data is very telling, isn’t it?
I doubt by the way what your wrote about Alexa. If you have to have their toolbar in order for hits to count, then why is it so many of the big websites are ranked as they are, even though so few people use the toolbar?
To me, these rankings make a lot of sense. Red County and Flash Report are boring. They are of interest only to a select few red-faced hacks. And we are in a very blue state. So why should these red blogs be so dominant?
If you want your blog to be of more interest Chris then stop acting like the official DPOC blog. Your blog says it is for liberals. And I cannot imagine why liberals would be pleased about some of the Democrats your blog praises, including the entire Santa Ana City Clowncil.
Art,
I’d like to suggest that you link to IHB. Their discussion forums have a folder for politics/economics. It is one of the highest rated real estate blogs with daily readership in the several thousands. I think it very well represents Irvine and some of the other OC cities for good local perspective on a variety of topics.
It’s one thing to work hard and be one of the best. It says quite another thing to brag about it. And that thing ain’t good.
Art,
Just so we’re all on the same page; you’ve referenced Sitmeter data as a measure of blig ranking. Visits and page views are indeed an indicator. Given that TheLiberalOC.com was down for a full week, I am not at all surprised at the drop in out numbers.
But let’s look at this years Sitemeter visitor history for both sites.
Month LiberalOC OJ
Jan 08 19,193 15,053
Feb 08 21,551 13,774
March 08 18,472 15,140
April 08 19,213 16,118
May 08 23,875 16,670
June 08 22,210 22,674
Congratulations on your recent popularity.
Actually Chris –
Congratulations on YOUR recent popularity. If you go farther back in the Sitemeter numbers you’ll find (and yes I’m repeating myself) that your site didn’t get popular until the November ’06 election and is only read during election season. In the off-season, it is barely a blip on the radar screen. Come November, it will revert back to its true form in the same manner as every other partisan blog.
Your blog banned me instead of just talking to me or asking me to join and now your karma is coming back. So I found a diamond in the rough and polished it up really nicely. Please don’t take this personally (it’s Dan’s fault anyway), but I’m sorry; the numbers don’t lie.
SMS
[Update: Actually I took your old Sitemeter data from memory. Apparently, you no longer allow your users to go back beyond one year. Interesting.]
It’s one thing to work hard and be one of the best. It says quite another thing to brag about it. And that thing ain’t good.
Anon, we will have to “agree to disagree” on the bragging question. And I say this as one of the best and baldest piano players, ever.
Art:
Google around and you’ll quickly discover that Alexa is not taken very seriously by people who take web traffic rankings seriously. It depends primarily on users who’ve installed the Alexa tool bar, then they have some formula that extrapolates from that.
I’ve already pointed this out to you. But since Alexa feeds your fantasy about how incredibly influential OJ is, you don’t really care.
Go to Compete.com and compete OJ to the other OC blogs. Not a pretty picture.
You are doing better lately, be proud of that — why lie when the truth will suffice?
I think it is revealing that alone among OC bloggers, you continually feel to need to assert your relevance, influence and reach. It’s like the old saying about whether to trust a man who’s always going on about how honest he is — his constant insistence is a strong indicator he probably isn’t.
And Chris is right about BNN. You used to be so incensed about your BNN ranking you took it off OJ! Now, it has a credibility again?
Their ranking is a marketing gimmick: you and other blogs are giving them a free blogad every week.
Matt –
‘I think it is revealing that alone among OC bloggers, you continually feel to need to assert your relevance, influence and reach.‘
Excuse me? You would have a point if a) people haven’t been trying so hard to discredit our site because it rages against the machine and b) Dan C. didn’t just write a post the other day on LibOC about an LA Times article that uses 2-year old data to claim that people prefer partisan blogs over non or bi-partisan blogs. I respectfully disagree. So do the numbers.
SMS
SMS:
I do have a point, because what i said is absolutely correct, and everyone knows it. No other blogger in OC regularly engages in self-congratulatory horn-tooting, except Art. Why the constant need to publicly affirm OJ’s relevance?
And pardon Dan’s nerve for posting about a blog study. Dan didn’t make any mention of OJ. You guys are making it about yourselves.
Art:
This may be a little off topic, but here goes:
When is the Mayor or the other council members going to censure Carlos Bustamante for his despicable comments? Isn’t it high time that one of the councilmembers or mayor (maybe a councilwoman) ask Carlos Bustamante to apologize for his horrible comments.
Matt –
We’re the most popular bi-partisan blog in the county. Who else could Dan have been digging at?
SMS
Bi-partisan? Ummm, yeah, sorta…with a VERY noticeable tilt to the right. Apologies to Vern, but it’s just a fact.
#14 –
If you say so…
SMS
SMS:
You’re the ONLY bipartisan blog in the county. Dan wasn’t “digging” at anyone. I think this is a case of looking for offense.
#14, I will try harder.
Maybe our readership pulls us to the left – look at the results on the McCain poll and the Santa Ana mayor poll!
Matt –
I hope you’re kidding. There are millions of blogs out there. Probably thousands related to politics in OC. Most of them die in obscurity, so to be correct, we are the only notable bi-partisan blog. Either way, we seem to disagree on whether Dan was digging, but if I’m right and he was, it could only have been at us.
Let’s get off Dan’s back for a second and talk about your blog. Not only is it part of a larger network, but could it also be that you’re mirroring your site to drive up crosslinks? What’s up with that?
SMS
Reyton –
Kudos to Pedroza and the OJ for their constant vigilence of monitoring the antics of Pulido and his Clowncil.
Carlos will not apologize for his remarks because that would be an admission of guilt.
I’d like some chatter on the glorious calendar the City of Santa Ana Public works mailed out this past week. Geez, no wonder the Council has increased water fees two times this year. I did not appreciate receiving this propaganda in the mail.
How much did this calendar cost the taxpayers of Santa Ana?
Fiesta Marketplace – Council Member Sarmeineto’s family business – is prominently displayed throughout the calendar and Fourth Street was conveniently dismissed from the calendar. Fourth Street posts the highest in retail sales, or second highest, year after year, and the city continues to dismiss these hard working businesses. That almost smacks of being unAmerican. Why the oversight?
BTW … this is Pedroza’s blog and if he wants to brag, so what. No one if forcing you to participate. It’s kinda like having children — all parents brag. So what? Get over it Jubal.
Move on.
Probably thousands related to politics in OC.
Thousands? Really? Then you should have difficulty naming, say, 15 of them?
Either way, we seem to disagree on whether Dan was digging, but if I’m right and he was, it could only have been at us.
Here’s what Dan said:
“The study offers little information on political blogs that straddle the fence, suggesting they don’t offer what readers of political blogs want.”
Do you consider OJ to be a blog that “straddles the fence”?
Not only is it part of a larger network, but could it also be that you’re mirroring your site to drive up crosslinks?
What the….? Are you guys for real? Do you obsess about this stuff?
We have nothing to do with how BNN indexes Red County. I rarely visit BNN and put no stock in the Index of Influence you guys seem to live and die by. It’s a marketing gimmick, and a pretty effective one. OJ and TheLiberalOC have been giving them a free blogad for months and months.
Oh poor Matt!
I think your depth perception is off again.
No, I can’t name any of the other, smaller blogs. That’s the point. This blog used to be one of those; now it’s not.
Do I think we straddle the fence? I think you’re playing a word game. You want me to say yes and appear wishy-washy, but I would actually classify what we do as touting or criticizing both sides of the fence when the circumstances are appropriate. We’re not afraid to tell it like it is.
And no, I don’t obsess and the issue has nothing to do with indexing. The three stories that were mirrored by mistake showed up on ALL of your RSS feeds, meaning even the OJ showed the same content. Two of the stories’ links send the reader to restricted pages, indicating private mirrors.
I’m a webmistress Matt. I was online before people even knew what the internet was. I moderated a BBS message board at age 13. I think I know what I’m talking about.
SMS
“Fourth Street posts the highest in retail sales, or second highest, year after year, and the city continues to dismiss these hard working businesses.”
If that’s the case, why is the city spending so much money right now sprucing Fourth Street? Open your eyes (not to mention your mind).
Matt. You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden. 😛
SMS
No, but we have company coming over, so you’ll have to wait for an explanation of why you’re all wet.
Ooooh… I can’t wait! Enjoy your dinner while I rest on pins and needles!
SMS
Whatever will poor Gustavo do when my owners make him give the best blog award to Orange Juice again? It’s not like he has much choice. It’s the site with the most growth. I mean, we can’t give it to Red County because we’re too liberal for that, and Liberal OC’s readership has been slashed in half.
Sorry man, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Congratulations OJ.
Didn’t Gustavo also call SMS the worst he’s even seen? I wouldn’t be so smug OC Weekly. She is the weakest link. Good-bye.
#27 –
I can be classy or trashy. It depends on my mood really. That said, one’s trash is another’s treasure. 😛
SMS
No, I can’t name any of the other, smaller blogs. That’s the point. This blog used to be one of those; now it’s not.
OC Blog used to be a small blog. The LiberalOC.com used to be a small blog. That’s usually the case with blogs. So OJ has more traffic than in December 2005…who doesn’t?
Do I think we straddle the fence? I think you’re playing a word game.
No, I’m not, SMS. You may recall, you are claiming Dan C. was attacking OJ in his post about that blog study. So, I quoted the only passage in his post that could even remotely, by really stretching things, be considered as maybe referencing OJ. I asked you if the pertinent phrase “blogs that straddle the fence” applied too OJ, because if it doesn’t, then your claim is absurd.
The three stories that were mirrored by mistake showed up on ALL of your RSS feeds, meaning even the OJ showed the same content.
Are you seriously claiming we are trying to gamme the BNN rankings? In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t link to BNN. We don’t post their blogad. We don’t even mention BNN.
So why would we try to game their rankings?
I think I know what I’m talking about.
No, you don’t.
There’s a very simple explanation for why that story was in BNN three times: because the author inadvertently posted it three times, and the three duplicated posts were on the blog for a while before I noticed it.
Mystery solved!
Matt –
… and how do you define ‘straddling the fence?’ It’s hard to communicate when people talk in cliches, so I’m pointing out that the ‘pertinent phrase’ can be used to describe those that have no convictions or those that play to all ideologies on the political spectrum. One definition is complimentary. One is not.
I accept your explanation on the feed issue, If you really want to distance yourself from BNN though, you should remove your feed. Clearly you don’t like them and yet you gladly continue to accept the additional exposure that they provide you. By not linking to them and continuing to provide them your feed, you take but don’t give. That attitude exemplifies everything that’s wrong with your party.
SMS
… and how do you define ’straddling the fence?’
You’re the one making an issue out of Dan’s post, not me. Don’t try to wriggle out of this by attempting to shift your tea-leaf reading to me.
I accept your explanation on the feed issue…
Gee, thanks — since that’s what happened.
…If you really want to distance yourself from BNN though, you should remove your feed.
You’ve been hanging around Art for too long, SMS. You’re starting to argue like him.
We don’t “provide” them with our feed. it’s just there. It’s public. Anybody can use it. I thought a “webmistress” would know that.
Matt –
I didn’t make an issue of Dan’s post. I cited it as being pro-partisan blog and contrasted it with the success of the only influential site in the area that doesn’t fit that mold… it just happens to be ours.
‘We don’t “provide” them with our feed. it’s just there. It’s public. Anybody can use it. I thought a “webmistress” would know that.‘
I had to submit my feed for The Centrist OC to BNN as you would have had to so long ago when you started out. If you don’t want to have messed up karma, you should email David and tell him that he should remove your feed from his site. That’s all I’m saying.
SMS
SMS:
Dan’s post wasn’t “pro-partisan blog”: it was about a blog study that claims blog readers tend to like partisan blogs — which is a general finding that doesn’t exclude a bi-partisan blog from being popular.
I had to submit my feed for The Centrist OC to BNN as you would have had to so long ago when you started out.
I didn’t have to submit anything. OC Blog had already been around for a couple of years before BNN even came into existence. They were looking for blogs, and took our feed and those of other CA blogs when they launched BNN California — just like they did in other states.
Why would I ask BNN to remove our feed? I have no problem with BNN itself. It’s just an aggregator, and a good idea in and of itself. I just don’t put a lot of stock in their rankings — even though RC is usually either #1 or #2.
“Who has a run in their stocking again?” Matt
you are ridiculous…..why you engage with Sarah
is amazing bad judgement. No wonder your numbers are falling. Even Chris finally figured out that
engaging in never ending “self congratulatory back slapping” is really dumb! Just goes to prove that hits have nothing to do with quality or doing something for someone else!
Would it be too difficult to write in plain, understandable English, and to use normal formatting like the rest of us Earthlings?
We’re sorry, Matt, those are our beloved drunken elders. I’m pretty sure they are trying to be friendly with you.
Matt #33 –
With I still disagree with the former part of your statement, I have to agree with the latter. As I’ve already pointed out, the study in question is two years old. Why else would Dan make the point now (and after a week of downtime no less), unless he was touting himself for being a partisan? I guess he’s proud of being a hack.
He censored another of my comments again. I wrote:
‘How do you make a difference? By being an electronic spin-room for your party? How does that help anyone but Democratic candidates?‘
How exactly does that violate his terms of service? He even went as far as to threaten to ban me completely again:
‘Sarah –
I am rejecting this comment as a personal attack against me and a violation of the terms you agreed to when your commenting privliges where re-instated at The Liberal OC. Thought cleverly disguised as a question, it is an attack nonetheless. We appreciate you saving the name calling for your posts on OJ.
Strike 1. But don’t automatically assume a strike two or three; line outs do happen.
In addition, someone is posting your new OJ posts as comments on the LiberalOC site; those posts will be deleted automatically.‘
Dan strikes again. When is he going to admit that I beat him… badly? This isn’t about bragging for me. It’s about certain people being bogged down in selfish denial.
Dan, you had your chance to have me on your blog. You F’ed up.
SMS