TechMeme Leaderboard Launches – Gots to Keep the Big… Big.

Update #2 – Ben Metcalfe examines how many of the Top 100 are actually blogs? 

Update: Dave at Scripting News has published the entire current Top 100 – CN made #39! Looking at the list also brings back the debate of what is a blog.

TechCrunch has the exclusive on a new feature launching today from TechMeme called "The Leaderboard". Mike notes, "The list will be created based on the blogs that created the most headlines on Techmeme over the previous thirty days (so it will change frequently)." You can also check out our 5 suggestions for improving TechMeme.

There is some discussion from Mike and others that this will affect Technorati but I am not so sure I agree with that. As Darren Rowse points out on the TC comments, "it is a great way of measuring things in a niche – however as it only looks at blogs writing on technology it misses 99% of the blogosphere."

Only headlines will be counted in the "Presence" scoring – “the percentage of headline space a source occupies over the 30-day period.”

Mike also notes, "I think this is a much better way of ranking the very top blogs than the Technorati approach. Technorati has deep flaws, for reasons stated above. Techmeme, by contrast, has zero spam and tends to mirror what the tech blogosphere is writing about perfectly." Except that at a basic level, Technorati is not biased as TechMeme is.

Yes, TechMeme is a great tool, I check it out several times each day and it is absolutely a great way to see what the tech blogs are writing about. Many times, I use it as a research tool for the articles I write. 

What does this leaderboard actually do? Remember that TechMeme is not unbiased. It pushes the sites that Gabe believes are the biggest or most influential by default (whether by human or by algorithm). So for example, let’s say XYZ site breaks a story and 5 others write about it including 2 of the "TM Faves" – those Faves have a much better chance of pushing out XYZ site as the headline and thereby capturing that bit of the "Presence" score. In fact, if you want to talk about gaming, any of the TM Faves only has to write a story about any topic already on TechMeme to obtain a great chance at another headline presence score addition.

Marhsall Kirkpatrick has a more objective review than Mike’s which includes, "That’s a fine thing to measure in 30 day increments, but it’s also important to acknowledge that not all blogs are equal in Techmeme. It is a black box, but it certainly appears that some big blogs carry a whole lot more weight than others. If my personal blog links to some one else’s blog post, that post will not be shot onto Techmeme. If TechCrunch, Engadget or Read/WriteWeb link to some one’s blog post, the journey for that blog post to make it to Techmeme is going to be a whole lot shorter."

He is right but he is missing the point. If discussion doesn’t count, then his personal blog won’t get the points once RWW posts about the same thing. It’s all about float fellas and ladies and if anyone thinks this list will change every 30-days, they are surely mistaken. 

(and fyi, I have no idea if CN is included in the 100 or not)