The battle for top spot in Technorati’s Top 100 blog list is practically non-existent. Week after week the position is occupied by the US-blog-turned-news-website, The Huffington Post.

The Huffington Post launched in 2005 aiming to provide a commentary outlet for liberal viewpoints. What started as a project for a few enthusiastic writers is today a social hub with, according to the co-founder Ariana Huffington, an active community of over 20 million web users.

The monthly visitor numbers don’t fall too short of those of other media outlets either. According to the web researcher comScore, The Huffington Post had about 9 million unique visitors last November. In the same month, NYTimes.com, one of the biggest news website in the US, recorded 16.6 million unique visitors.

The Huffington Post offers a good example of how Web 2.0 gives anyone a chance to get their message heard – and to make money.

According to The Guardian, The Huffington Post had revenues of $12m-$16m last year. In total, the publication is estimated to be worth over $100 million.

So what was it that made the site such a hit?

Ariana Huffington herself believes that blogs appeal to a desire of the public to engage and comment, rather than just consume news.

During the BBC programme Virtual Revolution Huffington also stressed that transparency is an essential part of new media. Perhaps it is this openness and accountability to its readership which has made The Huffington Post a leader in its field.

Have a look at The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Feature article

With Web 2.0 no longer a cryptic name, blogging is as popular as it ever was. Thanks to the huge popularity of social media tools like Twitter, people seem to have got past the final remnants of web shyness and blogs are blooming.

Read our feature article – ‘Why do we need blogs?’