Weblogs, or more naturally blogs, have been tipped as the next big craze to sweep the internet and Google's interest and seal of approval has been seen in some quarters as the signal that they are about to finally enter the commercial arena.
Certainly, blogs are popular. And not just among a certain breed of journalist who keep writing up the phenomenon and spending their own time generating content for such outlets.
The cliche is that since September 11, and the surge in demand for personal opinion and information generated by the horrific events on that day, weblogs have sprouted like mushrooms after a particularly invigorating rainstorm. The US-based Blogger.com hosts 1m of them.
In the UK, certain blogs have become cults and, in contrast, are less about information but more about creativity.
As pointed out by DMC's Justin Kirby in February's issue of Revolution, creative blog content has hit the mainstream as ideas from blog-style sites like B3ta.com are picked up and used by broadcasters and brought to the mass market.
Enthusiasm for something new is natural and, in the face of tough commercial times, helped push the internet forward.
Yet, although B3ta.com sells advertising and Blogger offers ads on its free software and charges for its premium version, it is difficult to see if there is a concrete commercial future for blogs.
Demand for information and personal opinion will doubtless fuel the growth of blogs, particularly in uncertain times, but it is hard to see how business can capitalise on this.
Apart from Google that is. It will get some obvious benefits from the purchase as it looks to boost revenues without interfering with the Google aesthetic of function over form.
As web users get more sophisticated they demand more relevancy from their search results and, to date, blogs have produced content too quickly and underneath the radar of most searches to be accurately represented.
Google's big weapon in the search engine wars is relevancy. With the recent test of Froogle, its shopping comparison engine in the US, it opened user's eyes to the content of online retail databases. Surely it will do the same for blogs and score points from its search rivals at the same time.
So Google may connect a few more dots in its attempt to cover the worldwide web, but that does not mean it has completed the link between blogging and business.
Philip Smith is the editor of Revolution.
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